





L BRARY OF CONGRESS. 


Shelf. Ml. 


UNITED STATES OF A3iERICA. 

1 








o 
o 



CO 



SketchesofMexico 



IN 



PREHISTORIC, PRIMITIVE, COLONIAL, 
AND MODERN TIMES. 



LECTURES 



AT THE 



OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY 



ON THE 



Merrick Foundation 




BY TH 

Rev. John W.^utler, D.D 

Twenty years resident in Mexico 




FIFTH SERIES 



NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON 
CINCINNATI : CRANSTON & CURTS 

1894 



7ff/ 



Copyright, 1894, by 

HUNT & EATON 

New York. 



Mfo/ 



Composition, electrotypinp, printing, .ind binding; hy 

HUNT & EATO>f, 

ISO Fifth Avenue, New York. 



TO 

MY VENERABLE FATHER, 
THE REV. WILLIAM BUTLER, D.D., 

WHOSE VOICE AND PEN, FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY, 

IN IRELAND AND IN INDIA, 
IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN MEXICO, 

HAVE PLEADED ELOQUENTLY FOR THE WORLD'S REDEMPTION, 
THESE MEXICAN SKETCHES ARE 

AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY 
HIS SON. 



SYLLABUS. 



LECTURE I. 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 

Spanish cruelty. The heroic Cuautemoc. Hieroglyphics and pic- 
ture paintings. Sacrilegious vandalism page i 

LECTURE IL 

ORIGIN OF THE MEXICANS. 

With a review of the autochthonic and migratory theories concerning 
the first inhabitants of tlie western continent. Noah's grandson. 
Did Solomon draw material for the building of the temple from 
Mexico ? 33 

LECTURE III. 

PREHISTORIC MEXICANS. 

Mexico the cradle of American civilization. St. Thomas and the 
cross in Mexico 8i 

LECTURE IV. 

EARLY MEXICANS AND THEIR HISTORY. 

The Toltecs. Nahuas, Chichimccs, Aztecs, etc. Their migrations. 
Their civilizations. The Fair God, " The Chair of God," or 
the Ark of the Covenant. The Mexican ensign and Bishop 
Simpson 121 

LECTURE V. 

THE MOCTEZUMAS AND THE KING DAVID OF MEXICO. 

Tenochtitlan. Origin of the word Mexico. Huitzilopochtli. The 
Athens of Ajiahuac. The King David of Mexico. Mocte- 



vi Syllabus. 

zuma I. " Fight till death." Spread of his empire. Mocte- 
zuma IL Mexico's great population. Court life and palaces 
of pleasure. Teocalli. Human sacrifices. The exaggerations 
of Prescott and others. Moctezuma and evil auguries. The 
European on the coast. Spaniards and greed of gold. Europe 
in the sixteenth centuiy. Original copy of the Bull of Alexan- 
der VI 163 

LECTURE VL 

THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS. 
Hernan Cortez and Luther, " the infernal beast." The cruel con- 
queror. Unique missionary methods. " Apostolic blows and 
knocks." "Without a parallel in history." The Tlaxcalan 
republic. Why Cortez succeeded against such odds. Fall of 
Moctezuma. Indian eloquence. " Tax collectors, priests, and 
miners " igg 

LECTURE VII. 

'' INDEPENDENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION OF 1857. 

Colonial times. The King of Spain and the holy father. Priest 
and soldier despoiling homes. The oppressive legislation of 
Spain. The Inquisition. Hidalgo and his cry of independence. 
Death of the hero and triumph of his cause. Santa Ana. 
Constitution of 1857. Separation of Church and State 239 

LECTURE VIIL 

NEW LIFE IN MEXICO. 

The Mexican War. General Grant's condemnation of the same. 
Extension of slaveiy. Ten millions for Texas. Reform and 
Benito Juarez. Expulsion of the Jesuits, nuns, and sisters of 
charity. A contrast — the promoters of the French interven- 
tion and the present condition of Mexico. Protestant missions. 
Latest statistics. Incidents. Methodism and her mission in 
our sister republic 277 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE Rev. Frederick Merrick, after a long life 
spent in the service of the Ohio Wesleyan 
University, crowned his benefactions by providing 
for a course of lectures to be delivered annually in 
the University upon Experimental and Practical 
Religion. Dr. Merrick wished the terms of his gift 
to be interpreted in the most comprehensive sense. 
He illustrated his understanding of what the lec- 
tureship included by inviting Rev. Daniel Curry^ 
D.D., to deliver a course of lectures on *' Christian 
Education;" ex-President McCosh to deliver a 
course of lectures on " Tests of Various Kinds of 
Truth ; " Bishop R. S. Foster to deliver a course of 
lectures on " The Philosophy of Christian Expe- 
rience," and Rev. James Stalker, D.D., to deliver 
a course of lectures on '* Preaching." A narrow 
mind might have regarded only one of these four 
courses as conforming to the terms of the gift. But 
Dr. Merrick not only believed that courses of lec- 
tures on Christian Education, Christian Philosophy, 
and Preaching rested properly upon the Foundation 



viii Introduction. 

established by himself, but he urged the administra- 
tors of his gift to interpret the terms Experimental 
and Practical Religion in the broadest sense. He 
most heartily adopted as his own and published in 
the Introduction to the First Series of Lectures de- 
livered upon this Foundation the following words 
from the pen of Professor W. G. Williams : '* All 
questions involving the evangelical work of the 
Church, all social movements of modern civilization, 
all questions of the rights and obligations of prop- 
erty and of labor, all questions of government, citi- 
zenship, and education, all questions of freedom of 
thought and utterance, in short, all questions touch- 
ing the welfare of men, so far as these matters 
stand related to the Gospel of Christ, come within 
the proper scope of these discussions." 

Our venerable ex-president was called to his reward 
March 5, 1894. Soon after his death we learned 
that it was possible to secure a course of lectures on 
Mexico, with final reference to our missions in that 
land, by the Rev. John W. Butler, D.D., son of the 
founder of our Mexican missions, and himself a la- 
borer for twenty years in that field. We felt at once 
that such a course of lectures would meet the hearty 
approval of Dr. Merrick, who maintained a life- 
long interest in missions, and manifested it by daily 
prayers for our missionaries, by constant contribu- 



Introduction. ix 

tions to their work, and by an annual letter sent to 
each representative of this University in the foreign 
field so long as his strength enabled him to perform 
this labor of love. 

As Dr. Butler opened his course of lectures we 
felt that Dr. Merrick not only would have been 
pleased with the subject chosen, but delighted 
with the breadth and scholarship displayed in the 
treatment of the theme by the talented lecturer. 
It is only the author's modesty which leads him to 
call the volume sketches. The research and the 
meditation displayed entitle the volume, condensed 
as it is, to the title of studies rather than to the 
more modest name selected. The lectures were 
listened to with the greatest interest by the audi- 
ences which crowded the hall in which they were 
delivered. We feel sure that their publication will 
awaken a deeper interest in Mexico and create a 
larger hope for our sister Republic on the South. 

J. W. Bashford. 
. Delaware, O., May i8, 1894. 



LECTURE I. 
SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 



SKETCHES OF MEXICO. 



LECTURE I. 
SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 

ABOUT midway between the National Palace 
and the historic Castle of Chapultepec (the 
"West Point** of Mexico) on the beautiful Paseo, 
or drive, laid out by the unfortunate Carlotta, Arch- 
duchess of Austria, stands an imposing monument 
which excites the admiration of the multitudes and 
awakens the spirit of inquiry in many a thoughtful 
mind. We do not refer to the great equestrian 
statue of Charles IV, cast by Tolsa in 1803, which 
Baron Humboldt declares to be the finest of its kind 
in all the world, next to the famous Marcus Aure- 
lius in the city of Rome, as it is the most elegant 
and possibly the largest bronze statue ever made in 
America ; nor do we refer to the Columbus monu- 
ment donated to the city in 1877 by Senor Antonio 
Escandon, with its solid base of basalt, octagonal in 
form, its square pedestal of Russian jasper bearing 
four basso-relievos, and four life-size figures of as 



4 Sketches of Mexico. 

many Spanish friars who came with the conquerors, 
and on the top a graceful statue of Christopher 
Columbus, with the left hand drawing the veil from 
the western world and the right raised as if invok- 
ing the benediction of Heaven upon his hazardous 
enterprise; but we refer to the most significant 
and finest of them all, the one which stands in 
the second glorieta (circle) of the Paseo. Here 
the Mexican architect Jimenez has erected a mag- 
nificent memorial. It stands on a slight elevation 
above the drive with four short stairways leading up, 
the entrance to which, in each case, is guarded by 
a bronze leopard. Just above the basaltic pedestal 
on two sides are found inscriptions, and on the other 
two reliefs. As you approach from the east the in- 
scription which first meets the sight, translated, 
reads as follows : 

" To the memory of Cuautemoc and the warriors 
who fought heroically in defense of their country, in 
1521." 

The inscription on the west side tells us that the 
monument was ordered by General Porfirio Diaz, in 
1876, and finished during the presidency of General 
Manuel Gonzalez, in 1883. On the north side you 
may see the well-executed relief which represents 
Captain Diego de Olguin delivering his royal pris- 
oner to the Spanish conqueror. On the south side 



Sources of Information. 5 

is represented a scene which might well cause every 
son of Spain to blush with shame. 

Cuautemoc and his cousin, Tlacopan, Prince of 
Tezcoco, having both fallen into the hands of their 
heartless conquerors, have been bound hand and 
foot, laid upon stone slabs while their fettered feet 
hang over flames of fire. In this way the voracious 
Cortez hoped to compel his victims to reveal the 
place of their hidden treasures. More than three 
hundred years have passed since this most atrocious 
deed took place, and the world to-day, more than 
ever, realizes the real motive animating the hearts 
of Cortez and his followers, notwithstanding their 
constant profession of a desire to propagate " the 
Christian faith." Surely " the love of gold " was 
the root of this evil. 

This bas-relief brings to mind another historic fact, 
in itself as noble and inspiring as the former was 
disgraceful and infamous. As the excruciating 
pains ran from the soles of his feet to the crown of 
his head the Aztec monarch suffered all without a 
word or even a sigh of complaint. But the Prince 
of Tezcoco called out to him in his extreme agony, 
"Sire, seest thou not how I suffer?" The indomi- 
table monarch answered, ''* Am I in a bath or in de- 
light?" or, as it has been more poetically rendered, 

" Thinkest thou I am on a bed of roses?" No 
2 . 



6 Sketches of Mexico. 

wonder the cousin took new courage and that some 
of the Spaniards began to vacillate concerning their 
cruel treatment. 

The suffering emperor seemed to understand all 
and cried out to them, " Do not be weary ; he who 
has resisted famine, death, and the wrath of the gods 
is not capable of humiliating himself now like a weak 
woman ; the treasury of the kings of Mexico I sub- 
merged in the lake four days before the siege of 
the city, and you will never find it." 

The second part of the pedestal contains the 
names of four heroes and representations of Aztec 
shields and arms. On the third section, which is 
beautifully ornamented with ancient symbols, stands 
a large bronze statue of the heroic Cuautemoc, who, 
at the early age of twenty-four years, was made king 
of a kingdom which flourished ages before Charles 
IV ever ruled or Columbus ever dreamed of seeking 
new worlds. 

The origin and history of the people who could 
produce such noble specimens of manhood, as well 
as the history of their contemporaneous and suc- 
ceeding nations, claim our attention at this time. 
We propose also to speak of their manners and cus- 
toms, languages and religions, and, after devoting 
considerable space to these primitive tribes, we will 
pass under review the ever-enchanting Homeric 



Sources of Information. 7 

story of the Conquest, the not less interesting colo- 
nial times, the heroic and successful struggle for 
independence and autonomy, and the more pro- 
tracted struggle for freedom from priestcraft and 
papal rule, in which Louis Napoleon, Pius IX, and 
Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, each played such 
important parts. 

We will then look into modern Mexico, with its 
new life and ever-growing development, the origin 
and marvelous spread of Protestant missions, their 
utility, and the present outlook and future prospects 
of this most interesting and wonderful country. 

That this continent was inhabited centuries before 
the so-called discovery of America by Columbus in 
1492, or by the Northmen from Scandinavia — whicli 
latter discovery, according to Humboldt, took place 
about the year 1000 — is no longer a disputed ques- 
tion. Empires with thousands, and in some cases 
millions, of subjects rose in splendor on American 
soil, flourished for centuries, and passed away, only 
to be succeeded by others more numerous or power- 
ful than they. Mexico was the home of some of the 
most interesting and lasting of those empires. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the sacrilegious 
vandalism and mistaken religious zeal of the Span- 
ish conquerors has robbed the student of history of 
records which to-day ought to be found in the uni- 



8 Sketches of Mexico. 

versities and museums of our sister republic. Their 
existence would have opened up a rich field of study, 
as fascinating as any which the masters of Roman 
and Greek literature have placed in the libraries and 
curriculums of American colleges. The Aztecs and 
contemporaneous as well as antecedent tribes com- 
memorated passing events by elaborate sculpture 
and picture painting. 

Brantz Mayer, for some time secretary of the 
American Legation in Mexico, in his valuable work 
justly remarks: ** One of the most disgraceful de- 
structions of property recorded in history is that 
which was accomplished in Mexico by the first 
archbishop of New Spain, Juan de Zumarraga. He 
collected from all quarterc, but especially from Tez- 
coco, where the national archives were deposited, 
all the Indian manuscripts he could discover, and, 
causing them to be piled in a great heap in the 
market place of Tlatelolco, he burned all these pre- 
cious records, which under the skillful interpreta- 
tions of competent natives, might have relieved the 
early history of the Aztecs from the obscurity with 
which it is now clouded. The superstitious soldiery 
eagerly imitated the pious example of this prelate, 
and emulated each other in destroying all the books, 
charts, and papers which bore hieroglyphic signs, 
whose import, they had been taught to believe, was 



Sources of Information. 9 

as sacrilegiously symbolic and pernicious as that of 
the idols they had already hurled from the Indian 
temples." * 

This wholesale destruction was doubtless due to 
the fact that the priests mistook these pictured 
figures to be representatives of heathen deities. 
Father Bartholomew de las Casas admits, in his 
Historia Apologetica, that they were actuated by 
the fear that in matters of religion tlie existence of 
these books would be injurious. 

Be this as it may, ''The infamous crime com- 
mitted against the cause of knowledge and the irrep- 
arable injury done to the natives, their successors, 
and to the students of history for all time, by the 
destruction of those valuable manuscripts, must ever 
remain an unerasable blot upon the name of the early 
Church in Mexico, and must be ranked with the 
worst deeds of Goths and Vandals. Juan de Zumar- 
raga, the chief of these sacrilegious destroyers, who 
committed the annals of the Mexican States publicly 
to the flames in his tour of the principal cities of the 
country, will ever be remembered with proper con- 
tempt." t 

These sad facts are sustained by Torquemada, by 
Ixtlilxochitl, as quoted by Lord Kingsborough in 

* Hartford edition, 1851, p. 92. 

f J. T. Short's The North Americans of Antiquity, p. 429. 



lo Sketches of Mexico. 

his monumental work on Mexican Antiquities^ by 
Prescott, Sahagun, Clavigero, Humboldt, and by 
many others. 

The value of these hieroglyphics and picture 
paintings will appear to us when we remember that 
the aboriginals of Mexico recorded by these means 
everything which they deemed worthy of preserva- 
tion, and the art was greatly prized and zealously 
cultivated by them, but was thus lost to humanity 
forever. 

Bancroft, from whose extensive works we shall 
frequently quote in these Lectures, says : 

'' The written records included national, historic, 
and traditional annals, names and genealogical tables 
of kings and nobles, Hsts and tribute rolls of prov- 
inces and cities, land titles, law codes, court records, 
the calendar and succession of feasts, religious cere- 
monies of the temple service, names and attributes 
of the gods, the mysteries of augury and soothsay- 
ing, with some description of social customs, mechan- 
ical employments, and educational processes. The 
preparation and guardianship of records of the 
hieher class, such as historical annals and ecclesias- 
tical mysteries, were under the control of the high- 
est ranks of the priesthood, and such records, com- 
paratively few in number, were carefully guarded in 
the temple archives of a few of the larger cities. 



Sources of Information. ii 

These writings were a sealed book to the masses, 
and even to the educated classes, who looked with 
superstitious reverence on the priestly writers and 
their magic scrolls. It is probable that the art as 
applied to names of persons and places or to ordinary 
records was understood by all educated persons, 
although by no means a popular art, and looked 
upon as a great mystery by the common people. 
The hieroglyphics were painted in bright colors on 
long strips of cotton cloth, prepared skins, or maguey 
paper, generally the latter rolled up or, preferably, 
folded fanlike into convenient books called " amatl," 
and furnished often with thin wooden covers. The 
same characters were also carved on the stones of 
public buildings, and probably also in some cases on 
natural cliffs. The early authorities are unanimous 
in crediting these people with the possession of a 
hieroglyphic system sufficiently perfect to meet all 
their requirements." 

Fortunately, however, the learned Dr. Robertson, 
of the University of Edinburgh, who lived and 
wrote in the eighteenth century, is not quite correct 
when he says, ^' In consequence of this fanatical zeal 
of the monks we have totally lost every intelligence 
of the most remote events contained in these rude 
monuments, and there does not remain a single 
trace of the policy and ancient revolutions of the 



12 Sketches of Mexico. 

empire excepting those which are derived from tra- 
dition or from some fragments of their historical 
pictures which escaped the barbarous search of Zu- 
marraga. It appears evident from the experience 
of all nations that the memory of past events can- 
not be long preserved, nor transmitted with fidelity, 
by tradition. The Mexican pictures, which are sup- 
posed to have served as annals of their empire, are 
few in number and of ambiguous meaning. Thus, 
from the uncertainty of the one and the obscurity 
of the others, we are obliged to avail ourselves of 
such intelligence as can be gleaned from the imper- 
fect materials which are found scattered in the 
Spanish writers." 

We find a list of some three hundred different 
works (largely Spanish and Portuguese) published in 
the first part of Dr. Robertson's valuable History, 
which were consulted by him, and hence we cannot 
understand how he was so seriously deceived. He 
seems, like many otherswhonevervisited the country, 
to have overlooked entirely the histories written by 
the Indians themselves, and to have failed in appre- 
ciation of the historical pictures, which in some 
cases were hidden away by the natives, and in 
other cases were reproduced by their artists at the 
time. 

Clavigero, a recognized authority, declares that 



Sources of Information. 13 

** at the time the missionaries performed that unfor- 
tunate burning of the pictures many Acolhuan, 
Mexican, Tepanecan, Tlascalan, and other histo- 
rians were living, and employed themselves to repair 
the loss of these monuments. This they in part 
accomplished by painting new pictures or making 
use of our characters, which they had learned, and 
instructing by word of mouth their preachers in 
their antiquity, that it might be preserved in their 
writings, which Motolinia, Olmos, and Sahagun 
have done." "^ 

From the same author we learn of the existence 
of five valuable collections of these paintings: 

I. The Mendoza collection. This collection was 
composed of sixty-three Mexican paintings secured 
by one of the early bishops of Mexico, Antonio Men- 
doza, for Charles V. The vessel in which they were 
shipped was captured on the high seas by French 
pirates and carried to France. Here they fell into 
the hands of Thevenot, a noted geographer, whose 
heirs sold them at a great price to the chaplain of 
the British embassy, who sent them to his native 
land and possibly to the British Museum. The 
first twelve contain the history of the foundation of 
Mexico, the years and conquest of the kings ; the 

* History of Mexico, Abbe F. S. Clavigero, Richmond edition, 
1833, p. 33. 



14 Sketches of Mexico. 

thirty-four following represent the tributary cities 
and the quantity and species of their tributes ; and 
the remaining seventeen explained a part of the edu- 
cation of their youth and their civil government. 

2. The Vatican collection. Acosta mentions 
such a collection, which is doubtless still in existence. 

3. The Vienna collection. This consists of eight 
paintings, which were presented by the King of Por- 
tugal to Clement VII. From the pope they passed 
into the hands of others, and finally were presented 
to Leopold, the emperor. 

4. The Siguenza collection. This learned anti- 
quarian of Mexico is said to have made a large col- 
lection of valuable paintings, part of which he in- 
herited from the famous Ixtlilxochitl, who in turn 
inherited them from his ancestors, the kings of 
Tezcoco. Siguenza, on his death, left all to the 
Jesuit College of St. Peter and St. Paul in the city 
of Mexico. They, in common with all Church prop- 
erty, were confiscated by the republican government 
in 1859. 

5. The Boturini collection — called his historical 
Indian Museum — was composed of many maps, 
hieroglyphics on skin and maguey paper. These 
were confiscated by the colonial government and 
deposited in the Royal University, founded in 1553. 
It is said this seemingly arbitrary act was due to 



Sources of Information. 15 

the fact that many of these precious treasures were 
being lost through the carelessness of the Boturini 
family. 

The remains of this and the Siguenza collection 
are now in the possession of the government in the 
city of Mexico, and, doubtless, make the most valu- 
able of existing collections. 

Specimens of the picture writings are also found 
in some of the old Indian families of Mexico.* 
Others have found their way into libraries of Eu- 
rope as well as in the United States. At least one 
original and several duplicates may be seen in the 
Smithsonian Institution. 

Mr. F. A. Ober says that during one of his three 
visits to Mexico he heard of one *' over sixty feet 
long, a narrow strip, folded after the manner of a 
book, with wooden strips at the extremities, which 
formed the covers when closed." 

On this subject in general the same author adds : 

** Although the best and most valuable Aztec 
manuscripts or picture paintings were destroyed by 
Zumarraga, first bishop of Mexico, some remained, 
and others, as soon as the Spaniards became sen- 
sible of this error, were produced by learned Indians 

* Senor Icazbalceta, Senor Alfredo Chavero, Senor Abadeario, 
and other Mexican antiquarians own some of these now priceless 
relics. 



i6 Sketches of Mexico. 

by order of the viceroy. We know that the Mexi- 
cans were very apt at depicting scenes and repre- 
senting occurrences, and that the landing of the 
Spaniards in 15 19, with all its attendant circum- 
stances, was transmitted to Moctezuma by his skill- 
ful painters before the bustle of that event had sub- 
sided." * 

In the great book by Lord Kingsborough we may 
find the various " codices " produced in facsimile, 
with all the bright, fadeless colors of the originals. 
'' I have in my possession a lithographed chart in 
black and white, of some five meters in length, pre- 
pared by direction of that indefatigable archaeolo- 
gist, Mr. Squires, so well known as an authority 
on Central America. Four ' maps,' or charts, are 
given ; the first, a history of the sovereign States 
and the kings of Acolhuacan, is a nonchronological 
map, belonging to the collection of Boturini. It is 
on prepared skin, and represents the genealogy of 
the Chichimeque emperors from Tlotzin to the last 
king, Don Fernando Ixtlilxochitl, and has a number 
of paragraphs in Nahuatl, or Mexican. It belonged, 
according to an inscription on the back, to Don 
Diego Pimental, descendant of King Mezalhual- 
coyotl. It gives a summary of the wars, pestilences, 
etc., which destroyed the Toltecs, and depicts the 
* Travels in Mexico^ p. 316. 



Sources of Information. 17 

joLirneyings of the barbarous Chichimecs who in- 
vaded the valley of Anahuac, and finally established 
themselves at Tezcoco. I produce here fragments 
of two of the pictures showing them as living in the 
caves of Chicomoztoc, their subsequent migration, 
and their barbarous nomadic life, when they sub- 
sisted entirely upon the chase and the wild plants 
of the field. The second series pictures them as 
having settled at Tezcoco and engaged in the pur- 
suits of agriculture, being surrounded by figures of 
the maguey, cultivated cactus, and other plants. 
The third gives us a glimpse of their later life, after 
they had assimilated the remnant of the Toltecs re- 
maining in the valley and had learned from them 
the arts for which the latter people had been dis- 
tinguished, such as the casting of metals, the man- 
ufacture of jewelry, copper utensils, etc. The most 
valuable of the series is called * Map Tepechpan,' 
also one of the Boturini collection, and consists of 
synchronous annals of the principalities of Tepech- 
pan and Mexico, commencing with the year 1298 
and ending at the conquest, subsequently extended 
by less skillful hands to 1596. 

"Like the two manuscripts before spoken of, these 
go back to the savage era of the Chichimecs, but 
give the leading events in the Tepechpan and Mex- 
ican tribes until the establishment of the Mexican 



i8 Sketches of Mexico. 

empire, thence relating exclusively to the latter. 
Wars, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, inundations, 
etc., are all accurately recorded under the date of 
their occurrence. The coming of Cortez, the death 
of Montezuma, the murder of his nephew, and the 
accession of Guatemotzin are all intelligibly set 
down here in unmistakable characters." 

We are aware that tradition is not always a safe 
guide to follow, it is so likely to be distorted ; but 
we also think that many learned writers in our own 
country as well as Europe make a great mistake in 
almost completely ignoring traditional help in the 
study of the American question. This is especially 
so with those who study the question " from afar," 
and publish their opinions without ever visiting the 
cradles of these traditions and seeing for themselves 
such monumental evidences as are often found in 
support of what is generally called tradition. For 
example, the learned Dr. D. G. Brinton, of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, has recently published a 
volume of most valuable essays.^ One of these he 
entitles " The Toltecsand Their Fabulous Empire." 
We cannot resist the conviction that the doctor 
would greatly modify his opinions if he would only 

* Essays of an Americanist, Daniel G. Brinton, A.M., M.D. 
Philadelphia, i8go. The same author published in iS68 The Myths 
of the A^civ World. 



Sources of Information. 19 

spend a few months in Mexico and stand in the 
presence of mute yet powerful and mysterious relics 
which are seen on every hand. 

For instance, he calls the Toltecs, as currently 
related to ancient Mexican history, '' a myth " (p. 83), 
and the Toltec empire " a baseless fable " (p. 85), 
and exclaims concerning the famous ruins of Tula, 
" I fear that they are to be sought nowhere outside 
the golden realm of fancy and mythical dreaming." 

On the other hand, we have the valuable testi- 
mony of contemporaneous writers who testify to 
what they have not only heard, but seen with their 
own eyes. Let us quote from two of these. Colonel 
Thomas Nuett Brocklehurst, a retired officer of the 
British army, made quite an extensive tour in Mex- 
ico in 1881. Among the points of interest visited 
by this observing English gentleman was Tula, and 
in his Mexico To- Day he says : 

*' Tula, formerly known as Tolam, was the ancient 
capital of the Toltec nation about the seventh cen- 
tury, and had necessarily a palace for its king and 
many temples. The palace stood on the top of a 
neighboring hill, and its foundation and ruins have 
been lately excavated by Mons. Charnay. It ap- 
pears to have consisted of a great number of small 
rooms, narrow passages, steps, and little courts. In 
these latter there were, probably, from the present 



20 Sketches of Mexico. 

aspect of the ground, tanks of water. The walls were 
thickly plastered and painted red. Scrubby bushes 
and vegetation cover most of the buildings. Near 
the foot of the hill are the remains of two temples; 
the walls of the one which I visited, still standing 
and forming three sides of a hexagon, are twenty- 
five feet high and turreted, and there appears to 
have been a chamber or platform at about three 
fourths of the height, judging from a ledge and 
some rafter holes in the masonry. There was a large 
amount of stone debris round the base through 
which trees had forced their way and had grown up 
so as almost to hide the temple. Our guide said 
the other temple had still a perfect roof, and I made 
an effort to visit it ; but our horses got stuck in 
some swampy ground, and we could not reach it. 

*' In the market place of Tula are four colossal 
pieces (one prostrate) of ancient Toltec statuary. 
Strange to say, the legs and feet only are standing ; 
their height is only eight feet, and we were told 
they were originally brought from the palace ex- 
cavated by Mons. Charnay. But what has become 
of the busts and heads of these monsters I was un- 
able to find out." 

That tireless traveler and lecturer of our country, 
Fred. A. Ober, says that Sefior Cubas, in a paper, 
Ruir.as de la Antigua Tollain, published in 1874, 



Sources of Information. 21 

gives a list of the antiquities discovered near Tula, 
and lithographed figures of the most prominent 
sculptures, which included a " zodiac " and a " hier- 
oglyph," now seen in the lintel of the principal en- 
trance to the great church. In the Plaza are some 
great stones, taken from the ruins of the Toltec city. 
There are three colossal sculptures, perhaps of 
caryatides, standing erect, and another lying down. 
This last is in two pieces, and was formerly united 
by tenon and mortise, even as I found the adorn- 
ments on the palace of Uxmal. Near the office of 
the railroad superintendent is a great stone ring, 
like those found in the ruins of Chichen-Itza. At 
the door of the cathedral is a beautiful baptismal 
font — at least, that is its use now — taken from these 
same Toltec ruins. Doubtless nearly all the build- 
ings here were made from stone taken from the 
Toltec city, as you may find sculptured stones used 
for the pavement of courts, inserted \\\ walls, etc. 

I have thus roughly sketched the old city at 
which the great railroad arrived \\\ April, 188 1. 
Let tourists and archaeologists visit it, now that 
they can do so with little fatigue. It does not need 
a rnore prophetic eye than belongs to ordinary man 
to discern the result of the opening of a country so 
rich in mineral and archaeological wealth. For a 
thousand years man has lived in this country 



22 Sketches of Mexico. 

— a thousand that are chronicled, and no one 
knows how many previously. The works of his 
hands lie scattered throughout valley and plain, 
crest many a hill, and adorn many a secluded vale. 
The time is coming when it is possible to reach 
many hitherto hidden from the world ; daily work- 
men are unearthing some relic of the past, and if 
our scientific societies would keep pace with the 
development of this country they should appoint a 
small party of qualified men to travel over this road 
with the advanced engineers. 

Let our American authors visit and investigate 
for themselves such ruins as Tula, Teotihuacan, 
Xochicalco, Papantla, Cholula, Mitla, Mayapan, 
Ake, Chichen-Itza, Xabali, Labria, Uxmal, Palen- 
que, Xibalba, and many others less noted, but 
which the future may prove to be equally interest- 
ing and important, ere they push aside all tradition 
and sculpture testimony with a flourish of their pen. 
The views of many will be modified, the field of all 
students of history enlarged, while the world, espe- 
cially in coming generations, will be made wiser by 
the entrance of every honest and patient investi- 
gator into this very broad and exceedingly rich 
field. We are very glad to lean upon others for 
such help from these sources, as we have neither 
the time nor the fitness for the necessary original 



Sources of Information. 23 

search. Due to the patient perseverance of not a 
few in studying these picture paintings and the 
traditions of the natives, we have had access, in the 
preparation of these lectures, to such valuable works 
as the following : 

1. Four voluminous letters written by the famous conqueror, 
Ferdinand Cortez, to Charles V, King of Spain, in which he 
gives his own account of the conquest, and much valuable 
information concerning primitive Mexico and the Mexicans. 
These letters were published in Spanish, Latin, Tuscan, and 
other languages of Europe, the first copies appearing in Seville 
in 1522, 

2. Bernal Diaz, one of Cortez's soldiers, wrote a book en- 
titled Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de Nueva Espana, 
which was published in Madrid in 1632, Though only a sol- 
dier, he proved to be quite an historian, especially in the eyes of 
the Church in whose interests he wrote. His success in mak- 
ing the Mexican side of his picture as dark as possible and 
glorifying the part which the " Holy Catholic Church " took in 
the conquest is certainly remarkable. This work has been re- 
produced several times in various languages. 

3. " The Anonymous Conqueror " is the name given to the 
author of a brief but interesting work called Relatione d'Accone 
cose della Nuova Spagna, etc. (the report of a gentleman who 
attended Ferdinand Cortez). He confines himself chiefly to the 
manners and customs of the people, their temples and antiqui- 
ties. 

4. La Historia de los Btdios de Nueva Espana, by Moto- 
linia, his real name being Toribio de Benavente. He was one 
of the first twelve Franciscan monks to preach the Gospel to 
the natives, by whom he was given the Mexican name of Moto- 
Unia. He explains their ancient religious customs, etc. This 
is an exceedingly rare book, but it is quoted extensively by 
Mexican authors and a few American authors of modern times. 



24 Sketches of Mexico. 

5. Bernardino de Sahagun in the sixteenth century wrote 
Historia General de las Casas de Niieva Espana, and his 
three volumes were reproduced m Mexico in 1829, He also 
wrote twelve large volumes concerning the Mexican language, 
the geography, the religion, the political and natural history of 
the Mexicans. He was a Franciscan, and devoted fifty years of 
his life to preaching and teaching among the natives, 

6. Jose de Acosta, a Jesuit father, published a work of great 
literary merit in Seville in 1589. It was entitled Historia Nat- 
ural y Moral de las Ijidias. It was reproduced in Barcelona 
in 1 591, in French, at Paris, in 1600, and afterward, I under- 
stand, in other languages of Europe. 

7. Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl was a noble Indian of 
Tezcoco and a direct descendant of Coanacotzin, last king of 
Acolhuacan. By request of the viceroy he wrote four valuable 
works : i. Historia de Niteva Espana ; 2. Historia Chichi- 
i7ieca ; 3. Historia del Reiiio de Tezcoco ; and 4. La Historia 
de los Toltecos, etc. Don Fernando had the advantage of hav- 
ing followed other historians in his own family who had 
scrupulously guarded and carefully studied a full collection of 
picture paintings. 

8. Bartolome de Las Casas, a Dominican and first bishop of 
Chiapas, was, perhaps, the best friend which the Indians had 
among the early Spanish missionaries. He published his first 
work in 1552, in which he complains bitterly of Spanish cru- 
elty to the Indians and throv/s much light on the ancient his- 
tory of the country. This and others of his later works were 
published in several languages of Europe, in some cases as a 
matter of hatred to the Spaniards. It is to be regretted that 
some valuable manuscripts by this same author, one of which is 
said to contain 830 pages, should have been hidden under the 
dust of ages in old libraries of Valladolid, Madrid, and Amster- 
dam. If ever given to the world they will, perhaps, throw 
additional light on the Indian question of Chiapas and Guate- 
mala. 

9. Antonio de Herrera wrote Historia General de los 



Sources of Information. 25 

Hechosde los Castellanos, etc., giving eight decades of Ameri- 
can history beginning from the year 1492, first printed in 
Madrid, i6or, and afterward republished in different langages 
and places of the continent. Senor Herrera has the credit of 
being both candid and judicious. In ancient history he fol- 
lows Acosta and Gomara, about 1614. 

10. Juan de Torquemada, a Franciscan Spaniard, published 
his Monarquz'a Indiana in Madrid, in three great folio volumes. 
It is considered by all the most complete, up to its date, on the 
antiquity of Mexico. Torquemada went, when a mere youth, 
.to the country, learned the indigenous languages, lived nearly 

fifty years among the Indians, and after collecting a large num- 
ber of ancient pictures and manuscripts devoted some twenty 
years to the preparation of his work. 

11. Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora, professor of mathematics 
in the University of Mexico in the latter part of the seventeenth 
century, made a large and choice collection of ancient pictures 
and manuscripts, and applied himself with great diligence to 
the antiquity of his country. In his Mexican Cyclography he 
adjusted their ancient epochs to ours, and explained the method 
they used to count centuries, years, and months. In his 
History of the Chichimecan Empire he explained the migra- 
tion of the first colonists from Asia to America, and leading 
events of the most ancient nations of Anahuac. In his lengthy 
discourse on the Gospel in Anahuac, he declared his belief 
that St. Thomas was the first to bring the " glad tidings " to 
the Indians of Mexico. He bases this belief on tradition and 
the existence of the cross in so many parts of the country prior 
to the coming of the Spaniards. 

The finding of the cross on this continent has given rise 
to great differences of opinion. Some believe it, as did all 
Spanish authors at and since the time of the conquest, as an 
evidence of the preaching of Christianity in remote times, and 
that the Gospel became mixed with the indigenous rites of the 
country. Others, however, consider it as an astronomical sign 
or an indication of the four points of the compass or the four 



26 Sketches of Mexico. 

seasons of the year. Others, again, say it is a figure as famih'ar 
as the Greek cross in the Old World. It is a well-known fact 
that the cross has been an object of worship among ancient 
peoples before the birth of Christ. In Egypt, in China, in Tar- 
tary, among the Druids and among the Goths we find the 
cross. Hence its existence does not necessarily imply the 
preaching of the Gospel. On this continent it was found in 
Canada, in Peru, on the island of Cozumel, in New Granada, 
in Palenque, in Brazil, in Paraguay, and in Teotihuacan — places 
so scattered over the continent as to make it quite improbable, 
if not impossible, that some Christian Quetzalcoatl introducec^ 
them into all these places. 

Then, again, the cross found in ancient Mexican ruins is not 
the Latin cross, for it generally has the four arms equal in size, 
like the Greek cross, though sometimes as an astronomical 
sign they seem to follow the shape of the St. Andrew cross (x). 
Besides this, as Chavero remarks (in Mexico A Traves de los 
Siglos, p. 379), attention should be fixed on this fact : the 
Christian religion differs from all others in having the cross as 
a symbol of redemption, or the symbol of a crucified Saviour 
for the salvation of man. But the Mexicans neither had the 
crucifix nor was the cross in any sense a sign of redemption, 
although at times it was doubtless worshiped as a deity, and at 
other times it was simply a symbol in chronology. 

In his Genealogy of Mexican Kings, Siguenza established 
an unbroken line back to the seventh century. Unfortunately 
these and other important productions were never printed, and 
the manuscripts were lost through the negligence of his heirs. 
In contemporaneous writers, notably Gemelli, Betancourt, and 
Florencia, we find preserved many extracts from this learned 
professor. 

12. An enterprising Italian, from Milan, by the name of 
Lorenzo Benaduci Boturini, reached Mexico in 1736. For eight 
years he made most diligent search into its antiquity. He 
studied the indigenous languages, lived among the Indians, ob- 
tained many of their ancient pictures and copies of their old 



Sources of Information. 27 

iTianuscripts. His collection of such was second only to that of 
Siguenza. When, however, he was about ready to begin the 
writing of his History his entire literary estate was confiscated 
by the colonial government. On his return to Europe, and re- 
lying largely upon his memory, he published (Madrid, 1746) an 
outline of his contemplated History. This skeleton makes the 
student of Mexican history deeply deplore the atrocious con- 
duct of the Spanish viceroy. 

Besides these and many other Spanish and Mexican authors 
there are several anonymous works in Mexican languages on 
the Toltecs and Aztecs, with historic matter bearing on their 
languages, pilgrimages, wars, and other events, from the early 
part of the eleventh well down into the sixteenth century. To 
these might be added a long list of French, English, Italian, 
Dutch, Flemish, and German writers, from whom our more 
modern authors have been able to draw. 

13. TJie Travels of Thomas Gage were published in Paris 
in 1625. At an early age, on account of political disturbances 
in Great Britain, he was sent to Spain for his education, after 
which he became a Dominican, and was sent as a missionary 
to the New World. His travels are very interesting reading, 
and in some cases his plain manner of speaking the truth con- 
cerning the c'orrupt lives of the priests in Mexico has brought 
upon him the criticism of more careful Church authors. Pos- 
sibly this is the reason why Clavigero does not like him. We 
shall, howev^er, have occasion to refer to him frequently. 

14. Notwithstanding the mistakes of Dr. William Robertson, 
already referred to, and Clavigero's severe strictures on him, 
we cannot refrain from recommending his History of America, 
published in Loitdon in 1777, from which we have received no 
inconsiderable aid. 

15. Perhaps the most popular of all works, prior to the 
present century, and certainly the one most frequently quoted 
by modern authors, is the History of Mexico, by the Jesuit, 
Francisco Javier Clavigero. This well-known Mexican writer 
was born in the Port of Vera Cruz in 1731 (not in 1720, as 



28 Sketches of Mexico. 

most American encyclopedias have it). His parents were 
Spaniards of royal blood, and his cousin one of Mexico's rulers 
of the eighteenth century. He entered the Jesuit College at 
Puebla when only seventeen years of age, and after a course 
in philosophy and theology studied Greek and Hebrew under 
a German Jesuit. Later he acquired a mastery of Mexicano, 
Otomi, and Misteco, besides some knowledge of twenty other 
indigenous languages of the country. He lived among the 
Indians for thirty-six years, and became familiar with all their 
traditions and a ready interpreter. Together with all Spanish 
Jesuits he was expatriated in 1767, at which time he went to 
reside in Italy. Here he continued his study of Mexican his- 
tory, obtaining access through brothers of the order to all the 
more important libraries of Europe. His work was first writ- 
ten in Spanish, but for political reasons which made its publi- 
cation impossible in Spain he was obliged to translate it into 
Italian, and the first published edition of his work appeared in 
Bologna, 1780. It was soon after published in French, Ger- 
man, and English. The year of his death, 1787, the first 
English edition appeared in London, and in 1806 another 
English edition was printed in Richmond, Va. No library on 
Mexico is complete v/ithout this work in some one of the 
languages in which it has appeared, and we shall have occa- 
sion to quote frequently from this source. 

16. Baron Friedrich Heinrich Alexander Von Humboldt, 
one of the greatest naturalists of modern times, after extensive 
scientific explorations on the continent, was sent by his govern- 
ment on a similar errand to the north of Asia. Later he went 
to South America, and in 1803 to Mexico. Though he only 
visited such points as were of easy access from the capital, he 
nevertheless so improved and utilized the labors of others that 
4;he whole territory bears the impress of his mighty mind. His 
work, A Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, 
though now chiefly useful as giving statistical information re- 
garding the country previous to and at the period of his visit, 
must be taken, as a later writer truly says, as the point 



Sources of Information. 29 

d'appui for the works of all travelers coming after him. 
Though perhaps he did not discover here much that was new, 
or throw additional light on the history of the people, he yet 
brought afresh to the notice of the world the writings of the 
old historians, revived an interest in archaeology, and set before 
all Europe the great natural resources of a country then 
inhabited by an oppressed people. His books have been a 
mine of wealth for subsequent historians, and have indeed 
served not only for relerence, but as a very material por- 
tion of their productions. Besides the Political Essay above 
referred to (published in Paris, 1811, in two folio volumes), his 
Geography of the New Co7itinent (Exameii Critique de I'his- 
toire de la Geographie du Nouveau Co?itinent), in five vol- 
umes, was completed in Paris in 1839. Both these and other 
works of this master pen have been translated and published 
in London and New York. His residence in Mexico was only 
for one short year, and yet such was the impression made by 
his visit, and such the high regard in which he is still held, that 
the city government of the capital recently marked the front of 
the house where he resided with an elegantly inscribed tablet. 
A five minutes' walk from the headquarters of the Methodist 
Mission takes one to the spot. 

17. Our great American historian, William H. Prescott, first 
published his flowery History of the Co7iquest of Mexico in 
1843. Within a year the entire work was repioduced in 
Spanish in the city of Mexico, with valuable annotations by 
Lucas Alaman. Another Mexican edition followed later with 
notes by Dr. Ramirez. Both of these writers try to correct 
some of the mistakes of Prescott. Few historians have made 
more interesting reading than Prescott, but he was a non- 
resident historian and depended chiefly on such books and 
manuscripts as had run the gauntlet of State and Church crit- 
icism in Spain during the sixteenth and sev^enteenth centuries. 
Nevertheless, no one can afford to pass by this work. 

18. Lord Kingsborough's Antiquities of Mexico, in nine 
monumental folio volumes, was published in London between 



30 Sketches of Mexico. 

1831 and 1848. This is the most beautiful and extensively 
illustrated work extant on Mexico, but its price, ^^loo, puts it 
beyond the reach of the public in general. Only three copies 
exist in Mexico. In this country there is one copy at the 
Smithsonian Institution, another in the Bancroft Library, and, 
doubtless, a few other copies of which the lecturer knows not. 
The entire edition consisted of only five hundred copies,- and is 
now out of print. 

19. In our own times the exhaustive work of Hubert Howe 
Bancroft, of San Francisco, takes the lead. Mr. Bancroft has 
probably the largest and most valuable library on Mexican and 
cognate subjects in existence. His agents in America and 
Europe have expended over a million and a half of dollars in 
the collection of some three thousand book volumes, in print 
and manuscripts, about ten thousand pamphlets, and files of 
official newspapers without number. In the Preface of his 
first volume this voluminous author says : " I have all the 
standard histories and printed chronicles of the earliest times, 
together with all the works of writers who have extended their 
investigations to the events and developments of later years. 
On the shelves of my library are found the various Colecciones 
de Dociime7itos, filled with [)recious historical papers from the 
Spanish and Mexican archives, all that were consulted in man- 
uscript by Robertson, Prescott, and other able writers, with 
thousands equally important that were unknown to them. My 
store of manuscript material is rich both in originals and 
copies, including the treasures secured during a long experience 
by such collectors as Jos6 Maria Andrade and Jos6 Fernando 
Ramirez ; a copy of the famous Archivo General de Mexico, in 
thirty-two volumes; the autograph originals of Carlos Maria 
Bustamente's historical writings, in about fifty volumes, con- 
taining much not found in his printed works; the original 
records of the earliest Mexican councils of the Church, with 
many ecclesiastical and missionary chronicles not extant in 
print ; and, finally, a large amount of copies of material on 
special topics drawn from different archives expressly for my 



Sources of Information. 31 

work." Mexico is but one part of the great American question 
treated by Mr. Bancroft, and the fourteen large volumes which 
we possess are but a fraction of his extensive work. He cer- 
tainly deserves due credit for his immense research, whatever 
may be tlie opinion of critical judges on his painstaking and 
thoroughness. It is a marvel to us how any one man could 
produce so much in a single lifetime. 

20. A lamented friend, graduate of Drew Theological Sem- 
inary, and, later, professor in the Ohio State University, John 
T. Short, published in 1880 (Harper Brothers) The North 
Americans of Antiquity, which gives valuable information on 
one phase of our subject. 

21. Life in Mexico, published in Boston in 1843 by Madame 
Calderon de la Barca, wife of the first Spanish ambassador to 
Mexico, after the mother country recognized the latter's inde- 
pendence, as the title implies, throws much light on another 
phase of the subject, and is regarded as a most admirable 
portraiture of Mexican domestic habits and customs. 

22. Brantz Mayer, at one time secretary of the American 
legation in Mexico, published between 1843 and 1853 four dif- 
ferent works, of which the most valuable is Mexico: Aztec, 
Spanish, and Republican, which appeared in 1850 and covers 
the period of the Mexican war. 

23. Dr. Gorham D. Abbott, principal of the Spingler In- 
stitute, New York, made a study of the Great Question of the 
Western Hemisphere, in contradistinction to the Great Eastern 
Question, at that time agitating all Europe, for the transit of 
the commerce of Asia between the Mediterranean and the 
Persian Gulf, and, as a result, published his Mexico and the 
United States, in 1869. His book is an important contribution 
to the political and military history of the country, especially 
from 1824 to 1859. 

24. In 1846 the Hon. Waddy Thompson, after a term 
of service as United States minister, published his Recollections 
of Mexico. His strictures on what he is pleased to call the 
" disgusting mummeries and impostures " of the Roman 



32 Sketches of Mexico. 

Catholic Church, " which degrade the Christian religion into 
an absurd, ridiculous, and venal superstition," are almost as 
true to-day as they were forty-five years ago. But his south- 
ern depreciation of " the poor and motherless black Indian " 
would doubtless undergo a change if he could have seen 
Benito Juarez, a pure Indian, rising up as the human sav- 
iour of Mexico's millions from the degradation of that 
" absurd, ridiculous, and venal superstition." 

25. In 1855 to 1856 and 1859 Robert A. Wilson published 
three different works. The last, entitled Mexico: Its Peasafits 
and Its Priests, is, perhaps, the most interesting. 

More recent pui)lications are numerous, and we have only 
time to mention Frost's Pictorial History of Mexico and the 
Mexican War (Richmond, 1848) ; Our Sister Republic, 
Alberts. Evans (Hartford, 1870); Our Next-Door Neighbor, 
by the lamented Gilbert Haven (Harpers, 1875) ; Travels in 
Mexico (Boston, 1883), F. A. Ober; Mexico To-day, Thomas 
Nuett Brocklehurst (London, 1883) ; Native Religions of 
Mexico and Peru (Scribner, 1884), by Dr. Albert Reville, trans- 
lated by P. H. Wicksteed ; Aztec land (Boston, 1890), by 
Maturin M. Ballou ; a number of valuable reports from the 
Bureau of American Republics, Washington, and, finally, 
Mexico in Tra7isitioji (Hunt & Eaton, 1892), by Dr. William 
Butler. Our relation to the author forbids our saying too much 
of this last work, but we are authorized to quote freely from it 
as we proceed. The many Spanish and Mexican authors can- 
not be mentioned here for want of space. The field is an im- 
mense one ; the resources of information are without number; 
we' earnestly trust that wisdom may be given to so present 
the subject as to merit your kind attention during the few 
days we spend together in these classic halls. 



LECTURE II. 



ORIGIN OF THE MEXICANS. 



LECTURE II. 
ORIGIN OF THE MEXICANS. 

NOT less than sixteen distinct theories are ad- 
vocated concerning the origin of the first 
inhabitants of this western continent. ** From 
whence did they come ? " has been asked again and 
again, and received many different answers. 

The theory claiming an autochthonic origin for 
these most ancient inhabitants has had able ethnol- 
ogists among its advocates. But with Mr. Bancroft, 
who had carefully studied all published arguments, 
we agree that to express belief in a theory incapable 
of proof appears to be idle. " Indeed, such belief 
is not belief; it is merely acquiescing in or accept- 
ing a hypothesis or tradition until the contrary 
is proved."* Those who advocate this theory are 
of two classes, evolutionists and believers in sep- 
arate, multiplied creations, this latter class claiming 
as many Adams and Eves as there are different 
species of the human genera. Some of this school, 
however, in advancing this theory hasten to add : 
" We do not at all derogate from God's greatness, 

'^ Native Races, vol. v, p. 131. 



36 Sketches of Mexico. 

nor in any way dishonor the sacred evidence given 
us by his servants." 

The antiquity of the American race seems to 
have induced many to accept one of the above 
leadings. 

Professor John T. Short well says : " We have seen 
tliat as yet no truly scientific proof of man's great 
antiquity in America exists. This conclusion is con- 
curred in by most eminent authorities. At present 
we are probably not warranted in claiming for him 
a much longer residence on this continent than that 
assigned him by Sir John Lubbock, namely, three 
thousand years. Future research may develop the 
fact that man is as old here as in Europe, and that 
he was contemporaneous with the miastodon. As 
the case stands in the present state of knowledge it 
furnishes strong presumptive evidence that man is 
not autochthonic here, but exotic, having originated 
in the Old World, perhaps thousands of years prior 
to reaching the New." 

Professor Joseph Henry, in Smithsonian Report^ 
1866, expresses himself as follows: 

" The spontaneous generation of either plants or 
animals, although a legitimate subject of scientific 
inquiry, is as yet an unverified hypothesis. If, how- 
ever, we assume the fact that a living being will be 
spontaneously produced when all the physical con- 



Origin of the Mexicans. 37 

ditions necessary to its existence are present, we 
must allow that in the case of man, with his com- 
plex and refined organization, the fortuitous assem- 
bly of the multiform conditions required for his 
appearance would be extremely rare, and from the 
doctrine of probabilities could scarcely occur more 
than at one time and in one place on our planet ; 
and further, that this place would most probably be 
somewhere in the northern temperate zone. Again, 
the Caucasian variety of man presents the highest 
physical development of the human family ; and as 
we depart either to the north or south, from the 
latitude assumed as the origin of the human race in 
Asia, we meet with a lower type, until at the north 
we encounter the Eskimos, and at the south the 
Bosjesman and the Tierra del Fuegian. The deriva- 
tion of these varieties from the original stock is 
philosophically explained on the principle of the 
variety in the offspring of the same parents, and 
the better adaptation and consequent change of life 
of some of these to the new conditions of existence 
in a more northern or southern latitude." 

The most celebrated advocate of the indigenous 
theory is Dr. Samuel G. Morton, of Philadelphia, 
who published his Crania Americana in 1839. ^^^ 
conclusions, as quoted by Short,*^ are (i) ''That 

"^ North Americans of Antiquity y p. 130. 



38 Sketches of Mexico. 

the American race differs essentially from all 
others, not excepting the Mongolian;" (2) ''That 
the American nations, excepting the polar tribes, 
are one race and one species ; " and (3) *' That 
the cranial remains discovered in the mounds, 
from Peru to Wisconsin, belong to the same race, 
and probably to the Toltecan family." It may be 
rather strained to set these crumbling crania down 
as Toltecan, but in view of such airy conclusions 
the following observations of the learned Retzins, 
in Smithsonian Report for 1859, ^^^ significant: 
" This autlior (Dr. Morton), who has given us such 
numerous and valuable facts, as well as the lin- 
guists who have studied these American languages 
with indefatigable zeal, have arrived at the conclu- 
sion that both race and language in the New World 
are unique. I am obliged to avow that the facts 
advanced by Morton himself, and that the study 
of numerous skulls with which he has enriched 
the Museum of Stockholm, have conducted me 
to a wholly different result. I can only explain 
the fact by surmising that this remarkable man 
has allowed the views of the naturalist to be 
warped by his linguistic researches." After show- 
ing how Dr. Morton's published plates contradict ^ 
his theory Retzins continues : " Conclusive, how- 
ever, as the plates are, I should scarcely have ven- 



Origin of the Mexicans. 39 

tured to advance these remarks if the rich series 
of our own collection and the numerous and ex- 
cellent figures of Blumenbach, Sandifort, Van der 
Hoeven, etc., did not declare in favor of my 
opinion." 

Latham, in his Natural History of the Varieties 
of Man (p. 452), quotes Morton's tables to show 
the fallacy of his (Morton's) conclusions. 

The color and stature arguments, so often ap- 
pealed to, do not substantiate Dr. Morton's theory. 
Prichard, in Researches into the Physical History of 
Mankind {(ourth edition, 1 841, vol. i, p. 269), as quoted 
by Professor Short, remarks : '' It will be easy to 
prove that the American races, instead of display- 
ing a uniformity of color in all climates, show nearly 
as great a variety in this respect as the nations of 
the old continent ; that there are among them 
white races with a florid complexion inhabiting tem- 
perate regions, and tribes black or of very dark hue 
in low and intertropical countries ; that their stature, 
figure, and countenance are almost equally diversi- 
fied." All of which is confirmed by travel and 
observation in Mexico alone, where one finds the 
Zufii and the Pinto, the Yaqui and the Yucateco, 
with their marvelous dissimilarity in color and in 
stature. 

The unparalleled diversity of language which 



40 Sketches of Mexico. 

meets the philologist everywhere on this continent 
is certainly against the idea of the ethnic unity of 
ancient American peoples. Mr. Bancroft claims one 
thousand three hundred languages and dialects for 
the New World, and he has classified six hundred 
of them, thirty-seven of which are spoken in Mex- 
ico to-day. 

Professor Short adds : " It is true that the Amer- 
ican languages present a few features quite peculiar 
to themselves, but as language is never constant it 
is not a pyramid with its unchanging architectural 
plan, but it is a plant which passes through such 
transitions in the process of its growth as to lose 
entirely some of the elements which it possessed at 
first ; so we may as reasonably expect that in the 
course of time certain peculiarities incident to cer- 
tain climatic conditions, certain phases of nature, 
and certain types of civilization should develop 
themselves as distinguishing features of the speech 
of the continent. The very fact that language is 
unstable — is a matter of growth — renders the argu- 
ment that these peculiarities indicate unity of the 
American race valueless; while, on the other hand, 
the fact that here we have a greater number and 
variety of languages than is to be found in any of 
the other grand divisions of the earth is strong 
evidence of a diversity more radical than that which 



Origin of the Mexicans. 41 

simply arises from tribal affiliations. In view of 
the wide differences existing between the native 
Americans themselves, in every feature which ad- 
mits of being subjected to a scientific test, we are 
forced to the conclusion, solely resting on the evi- 
dence in the case, that the theory of American 
ethnic unity is a delusion, an infatuating theory 
which served only to blind its advocates as to the 
plain facts, and led them into grave errors, which 
will become all the more palpable as scientific inves- 
tigation progresses. 

*' As yet no substantial reason for considering the 
ancient occupant of this continent as pecuHar in 
himself, and as unlike the rest of mankind, has been 
set forth. Nothing in the American's physical or- 
ganization points to an origin different from that 
to which each of the species of the genus Jiomo 
may be assigned. Whatever truth there may be in 
the diverse origin of the black and white races, the 
separate creation theory, in so far as it maintains 
that the Creator originated upon the soil of this 
continent a peculiar and separate race of men, 
must, in the eyes of this age of criticism, lack 
evidence and be assigned to its place with thou- 
sands of others which from time immemorial have 
been contributing to the construction of a founda- 
tion reef which will ultimately rise like a bold head- 



42 Sketches of Mexico. 

land above the dark waters of uncertainty into the 
realm of truth." 

Even Mr. Darwin (in Descent of Man, vol. i, p. i88) 
and Professor Haeckel, than whom there could be 
no more celebrated representatives of the develop- 
ment school, object decidedly to the theory of the 
autochthonic origin of the ancient American fami- 
lies. And Mr. H. Tuttle, in Origin and Antiquity 
of PJiysical Man Scientifically Considered, says: *' If 
a species or variety of the genus homo sprang up in 
Europe and another in America by agency of con- 
ditions existing in these localities, it would be be- 
yond probability that they should both be formed 
on ^e same plan." 

Baron Humboldt thinks that not only the Red 
Indians, but the Toltecs and Aztecs also, were 
of Asiatic origin."^ And Mr. Tylor, in Ana/mac 
(London, 1861, p. 104), says: *' On the whole, the 
most probable view of the origin of the Mexican 
tribes seems to be the one ordinarily held, that they 
really came from the Old World, bringing w^ith them 
several legends, evidently the same as the histories 
recorded in the Book of Genesis." 

It seems to us, in common with Professor Short, 
that there is nothing to indicate that the primitive 
" Americans owe their origin to a special act of 

* Essai Polii., vol. i, p. 79, Paris, iSii. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 43 

creation." Indeed, the best of writers on American 
ethnology and antiquities not only reject this *' spe- 
cial creation " theory, but also the theory of evolu- 
tion, declaring '^ if they originated by the process of 
development (for which there is no sufficient evi- 
dence) that it was not upon the American conti- 
nent." 

To our mind there is no doubt involving the Old 
World origin of the Americans. From whence 
they came or to what particular people or peoples 
they owed their birth we may not be able clearly 
to determine, but we may at least study the ques- 
tion with great interest, and we believe with 
profit, too, reaching, perhaps, the same conclu- 
sion that Professor Short did, namely, '^ That view 
seems open to least objections which maintains 
that the western continent received its population 
at a comparatively early period in the history 
of the race, before the peoples of western Europe 
and eastern Asia had assumed their present na- 
tional characteristics or fully developed their reli- 
gious and social customs." * This is also the opin- 
ion of most Mexican authors. Seiior Ezequiel 
Uricoechea thus expresses their commonly accepted 
view : "■ Hence remaining to us one primordial ori- 
gin for all the human race, then the question is to 

* T/ie North Afnericans of Antiquity, p. 202. 



44 Sketches of Mexico. 

know from what trunk or family of the old conti- 
nent the new was populated, or even vice versa, 
which is also possible, though improbable, that 
from what we call the new the old continent was 
populated." "^ This last is a daring leap in con- 
jecture. 

As stated above, we have found in our study of 
the question sixteen different theories touching the 
origin of the primitive Americans. These may be 
divided into three classes, and for convenience* sake 
we designate them the European, the African, and 
the Asiatic theories. 

Of the European theories there are six : 

I. The Welsh theory. We have a neighbor in 
the city of Mexico whose hair fairly bristles and 
whose eyes dance with delight whenever he dilates 
on the fact that before Edward I perfected the union 
of Wales and England, begun by William the Con- 
queror, in 1 1 70 A. D., an illustrious Welshman led 
a number of his countrymen across the great and 
then unknown Atlantic and discovered America. 

This pre-Columbian sailor was named Madoc-Ap- 
owen, and a full account of his first and second trans- 
atlantic voyages is found in old Welsh annals, a 
translation of which was published in 1589. 

The story in substance is this: Madoc was one 

* Soc. Mex. Bol.y second edilion, vol. iv, p. 12S, 1S54. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 45 

of several sons born to Owen Gwynedd, Prince of 
North Wales. After the father's death the sons 
contended violently for rulership. Madoc, being of 
a peaceful disposition, determined to sail for some 
unknown country where he might dwell in quiet- 
ness. For many months he and his handful of fol- 
lowers sailed westward without finding a resting 
place, *' but at length they came to a large and 
fertile country." The annals also state that Madoc 
and a part of his men returned after a while to 
Wales, and induced a large number of their country- 
men to join them in their second voyage to Amer- 
ica. It is supposed that they, with their ten ships, 
reached the colony in safety, but nothing more is 
said about them in these Celtic annals. 

The exact locality of the colony is still a disputed 
question. Baldwin says, *' Somewhere in the Caro- 
iinas." But a noted Welsh historian, Caradoc, in- 
sists that the colony was established in Mexico, and 
gives three reasons : First, the Mexicans believed 
that their ancestors came from a beautiful country 
inhabited by white people, witness Quetzalcoatl ; 
secondly, they adored the cross, witness Palenque ; 
and, thirdly, that Welsh names are found in Mexico. 

Another Welsh writer says : *' Moctezuma, King, 
or rather Emperour, of Mexico, did recount unto the 
Spaniards, at their first coming, that his ancestors 



46 Sketches of Mexico. 

came from a farre countrle, and were white people. 
Which, conferred with an ancient chronicle, that I 
have read many years since, may be conjectured to 
be a Prince of Wales, who many hundreth years 
since, with certaine shippes, sayled to the westwards, 
with intent to make new discoveries."* 

Some claim that the aborigines of Virginia and 
of Guatemala celebrated the memory of an ancient 
hero called Madoc ; others say that he came through 
the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi till he 
settled on the banks of the Ohio. There are reports 
that traces of the Welsh colony and of their language 
are found among native tribes in different parts of 
the United States. Bancroft, in Native Races 
(vol. V, p. 119), publishes a curious letter, written by 
the Rev. Morgan Jones in 1686, in which he claims 
that when he fell into the hands of the Tuscarora 
tribe he and his five companions were about to be 
put to death, when he soliloquized aloud in Welsh I 
whereupon their lives were spared. 

Lieutenant Roberts states that in 1801 an Indian 
chief who spoke Welsh fluently came to Wash- 
ington. He claimed that there was a tradition 
among his people that his ancestors came " from a 
distant country, which lay far to the east, over the 
great waters." The children of this tribe were not 

* Hawkins Voy. in Hakluyt Soc, p. iii. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 47 

allowed to learn any other tongue till they were 
twelve years of age. About forty years ago two 
eminent Welshmen traveling and studying in Amer- 
ica ''collected upwards of one hundred different ac- 
counts of Welsh Indians." 

2. The Irish theory carries us back to the fifth 
century, when, it is claimed, St. Patrick preached 
the Gospel in the '* isles of America " and an 
Irish colony was established along the coast from 
North Carolina to Florida, called ''White Man's 
Land," from whence some passed on to Mexico. 
But, as it was claimed that " White Man's Land" 
was only " six days' sail from Ireland," and the word 
" America " is found in the story at that early date, 
Professor Short is doubtless correct in saying that 
the claim " carries its own refutation upon its face." 

After a residence of twenty years in the country 
there is only one evidence which we have met that 
might be considered as favoring the Irish theory, 
and even this must be considered in the light of a 
modern tradition. 

From the early days of the present century down 
to 1876 history records an almost uninterrupted 
series of disturbances in Mexico. Sometimes on 
the slightest pretext people were up in arms against 
the existing government. 

Now, there is a modern tradition that a newly 



4B Sketches of Mexico. 

arrived emigrant from Hibernia, on being informed, 
in reply to his first question at Castle Garden, that 
there was a government, declared with his accus- 
tomed patriotism, " Well, then, I'm agin the govern- 
ment y How many of these oft-repeated revolutions 
are due to the existence of Irish blood in Mexican 
veins we do not pretend to say. 

3. The Scotch theory is based upon the assertions 
of a gentleman from the Highlands of Scotland 
finding Indian tribes in Florida whose languages 
" had the greatest affinity with the Celtic in their 
speech." We are assured, too, that ''the Indian 
names of several of the streams, brooks, mountains, 
and rocks of Florida are also the same which are 
given to similar objects in the Highlands of Scot- 
land." ^ 

Lord Monboddo, writing in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, gives several instances to prove that the lan- 
guage of the native Highlanders was found in 
America, and that an Eskimo could readily con- 
verse with a Scotchman after only a few days' 
practice. 

4. Not a few authors believe that the Americans 
descended from the ancient inhabitants of the Gre- 
cian Archipelago. George Jones, in his History of 
Ancient America (London, 1843), believ^es that the 

* Priest's American Antiquities, p. 230. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 49 

sculpture of ruins in Uxmal, Yucatan, follow the 
Greek style. 

Brasseur de Bourbourg claims identity between 
some American gods and Greek deities. Mons. 
Lafitau, in Mceurs des Sauvages Ameriquaiiis Coin- 
par ees aux Mceurs des Premiers Temps (Paris, 1724), 
says that the subjects of Og, King of Bashan, drove 
ancient Greeks from their home, and he thinks he 
finds them in America. Idolatry, the use of sacred 
fire, bacchanalian revels, resemblances in marriage 
customs, system of education, manner of hunting, 
fishing, and making war, games and sports, treatment 
of the sick, mourning and burial customs, are all 
quoted to support his view. 

Another writer reports hearing of a rock in Peru 
containing something which looked like a Greek 
inscription. 

William Pidgeon, in Traditions of Decoodak, and 
Antiquarian Researches (New York, 1858), says that 
a farmer in Brazil discovered, in 1827, '' a flat stone, 
upon which was engraved a Greek inscription which^ 
as far as it was legible, read as follows : ' During the 
dominion of Alexander, the son of Philip, King of 
Macedon, in the sixty-third Olympiad, Ptolemaios.' 
Deposited beneath the stone were found two ancient 
swords, a helmet, and a shield. On the handle of one 
of the swords was a portrait of Alexander ; on the 



50 Sketches of Mexico. 

helmet was a beautiful design representing Achilles 
dragging the corpse of Hector round the walls of. 
Troy." Mr. Pidgeon draws the conclusion *' that 
the soil of Brazil was formerly broken by Ptole- 
maios, more than a thousand years before the dis- 
covery of Columbus." * 

5. The Roman theory rests on the vastness of 
certain ruins, the remains of fine roads, the fond- 
ness of ancient Americans for gladiatorial combats, 
and a few coins reported to have been found at dif- 
ferent places on the continent. Priest, Torquemada, 
Villagutierre, and Lord Kingsborough give more or 
less credit to these evidences. 

6. The Norseman theory seems well established, 
and, while it does not go so far back as several of 
the others, it does antedate by nearly five hundred 
years the coming of Columbus. Baron Humboldt 
sums up the evidence thus : " The discovery of the 
northern part of America by the Northmen cannot be 
disputed. The length of the voyage, the direction 
in which they sailed, the time of the sun's rising 
and setting, are accurately given. While the caliph- 
ate of Bagdad was still flourishing under the Ab- 
bassides, and while the rule of the Samoieds, 
so favorable to poetry, still flourished in Persia, 
America was discovered about the year 1000 by 

^Native Races, vol. v, p. 123. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 51 

Lief, son of Eric the Red, at about 41 1-2° north 
latitude." 

The publication of original documents by the 
Royal Society at Copenhagen ought to be sufficient 
to satisfy the most skeptical. Mr. B. F. De Costa 
says there can be no doubt as to their authenticity, 
and Hubert Howe Bancroft agrees with him, 
though George Bancroft and Washington Irving 
do not ; but the latter frankly confesses that he did 
not have the " means of tracing this story to its 
original sources." 

Mr. George Bancroft disposes of the entire sub- 
ject in one page, while his later and more persistent 
namesake devotes the good part of a chapter to the 
subject in the light of these original documents pub- 
lished at Copenhagen. His entire first chapter on 
this general subject in Native Races, vol, v, is most 
interesting. Part of it is quite romantic. 

Mr. R. B. Anderson, who published America Not 
Discovered by Columbus (Chicago, 1874), claims that 
the Northmen left a greater impression upon Amer- 
icans than is generally believed. 

M. Grarier, in his Discovery of America by Norse- 
men (Paris, 1864), attributes Aztec civilization to 
Norse influence. The famous Abbe Brasseur de 
Bourbourg is quoted as agreeing with them. He 
claims to have found many words in the languages 



52 Sketches of Mexico. 

of Central America with marked Scandinavian 
traces, also ancient traditions which point to a 
northeast origin. This Norse influence is fre- 
quently referred to by contemporaneous authors in 
Mexico. 

Of the African theories there are four : 

I. The Egyptian theory seems based entirely 
upon analogies. These analogies are said " to ex- 
ist between the architecture, hieroglyphics, meth- 
ods of computing time, and, to a less extent, cus- 
toms of the two countries."* 

Carlos Siguenza y Gorgora, writing in the latter 
part of the seventeenth century, believed that the 
posterity of Naphtuhim " left Egypt not long after 
the confusion of tongues and traveled toward Amer- 
ica." Pierre Daniel Huet, a noted French bishop 
of the early part of the eighteenth century, accepts 
Siguenza's conclusions, and, in addition to the 
above reasons, adds " the resemblance of the word 
Teot/ of the Mexicans to the TheutJi of the Egyp- 
tians. 

Concerning archaeological analogies, Garcia Cubas 
gives the following between the pyramids of San 
Juan Teotihuacan (only twenty miles from the city 
of Mexico) and those of Egypt: ''The site chosen 
is the same ; the structures are oriented with slight 

''^ Native Races, vol. v, p. 55. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 53 

variations ; the line through the center of the pyra- 
mids is the astronomical meridian ; the construc- 
tion in grades and steps is the same ; in both cases 
the larger pyramids are dedicated to the sun ; the 
Nile has a ' valley of the dead/ and at Teotihuacan 
there is a ' street of the dead ; ' some monuments 
of each class have the nature of fortifications ; the 
smaller mounds are of the same nature and same 
purposes ; both pyramids have a small mound 
joined to one of their faces ; the openings found 
in the Pyramid of the Moon are also found in some 
Egyptian pyramids ; the interior arrangement is 
analogous."* 

Clavigero does not see so much in the pyramidal 
analogy as in the matter of computing time. On 
this point he says: "In the mode of computing 
time the Mexicans were much more similar to the 
Egyptians. . . . The Egyptian solar year was com- 
posed of three hundred and sixty-five days, like that 
of the Mexicans ; the one and the other contained 
three hundred and sixty-five days in their years, 
and as the Egyptians added five days to their last 
month, Mesoriy so did the Mexicans to their month 
Izcalli^ in which particular they agreed with the 
Persians." 

In the matter of hieroglyphics he adds; "Many 

* Ensayo de un Estudio Comparativo, Garcia Cubas, Mexico. 



54 Sketches of Mexico. 

other nations have done the same to conceal the 
mysteries of their reHgions." 

The manner of dress is another argument. In 
Gen. X (as well as I Chron. i) we read that Naphtu- 
him was the third son of Mizraim (verse 13), who 
was the second son of Ham (verse 6), who in turn 
was the second son of Noah (verse i). Smith's 
Bible Dictionary locates the tribe of Naphtuhim in 
Egypt, and says that they are spoken of in the 
Egyptian inscriptions " in a general manner when 
the kings are said, in laudatory inscriptions, to have 
subdued great nations, such as the Negroes, or ex- 
tensive countries, such as Keesh, or Cush " (vol. ii- 
p. 463). 

Kitto, however, identifies " Naphtuhim with the 
city of Naphata or Napata, the capital of an ancient 
Ethiopian kingdom, and one of the most splendid 
cities in Africa." He also thinks Naphtuhim, or 
Napata, was the royal seat of Queen Candace, men- 
tioned in connection with the baptism of the 
eunuch by Philip, and thereby makes, to say the 
least, a very curious connection between one of the 
ancient tribes of the Old Testament and an incident 
in apostolic times (Acts viii, 27 ; see also McClin- 
tock & Strong, vol. vi, p. 844). Villagutierre, 
Orrio, and Torquemada all believe that Ham was 
the father of the American race, though the 



Origin of the Mexicans. 55 

former believes that his descendants came by 
land.* 

2. The Carthaginian theory seems to be based on 
tradition, in support of which the fact of their knowl- 
edge of, and fondness for, navigation is much quoted. 

Hamro, a Carthaginian navigator, is reported by 
several ancient authors to have made wonderful 
voyages of discovery, and some modern writers 
think that he came as far as the American continent 
and planted a colony. 

This story Is very much mixed, by some authors, 
with the Phoenician story, which we will consider in 
connection with Asiatic theories. But this confu- 
sion is not so strange when we remember that 
Carthage was itself a colony of Phoenicia and evi- 
dently one of its most important possessions. Its 
commanding position on the Mediterranean, about 
where the modern Tunis now stands, was duly ap- 
preciated by this maritime-loving people. Hence 
in time it became a great commercial and warlike 
republic till its dispute of the empire of the world 
with Rome gave rise to the famous Punic wars. It 
is chiefly the extended power of this African repub- 
lic that leads many to give importance to certain 
analogies between ancient Mexican tribes and the 
Carthaginians. 

'* Native Races y vol. v, p. ii. 



56 Sketches of Mexico. 

3. On the northwestern corner of Africa was 
founded the ancient empire of Numidia, with its 
twelve hundred miles of coast line. It was at one 
time distinguished for prosperity, population, and 
wealth. 

'' It was one of the chief granaries of Rome, and 
was second only to Egypt in fertility. The Roman 
writers called it the soul of the republic and the 

jewel of the empire Many wild beasts were 

sent hence to Rome to be exhibited in its amphi- 
theaters." * 

Tradition, especially among early Church authors 
of Spanish origin, says that the Numidians sailed 
west as well as east ; that they went far beyond 
the Canary Islands till they came to a great island 
and established colonies in what is now Mexican 
territory. 

4. The Atlantis theory. Twenty-five years ago 
the mere mention of this theory provoked a smile. 
But of late writers are giving it most thoughtful 
attention. We prefer to mention it in connection 
with the African theories because it seems to us 
that the weight of evidence is in favor of Afric- 
American connection rather than any other con- 
tinuous land connection on the Atlantic side. We 
are aware that that Nestor of Methodist college 

* Mitchell's Ancient Geography, p. 65. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 57 

presidents, Dr. W. F. Warren, in Paradise Found 
(p. 186), locates the lost Atlantis in the Paleo-Arctic 
Ocean. But while, as in other days, we would 
gladly sit at his feet to learn, we can but feel the 
force of the theory of the mid-Atlantic location of 
this supposed continent, especially in the light of 
recent naval explorations conducted by the British, 
German, and American governments severally. 

The story of Atlantis as translated from Plato, in 
his TimcBuSy and published in Foster's Prehistoric 
Races (p. 394) ; in Bancroft's Native Races (vol. v, 
p. 123) ; in Clavigero's History of Mexico; in Chavero, 
A Traves de los Siglos (vol. i, p. 64), and others, is 
as follows : 

" Among the great deeds of Athens, of which 
recollection is preserved in our books, there is one 
which should be placed above all others. Our 
books tell us that the Athenians destroyed an army 
which came across the Atlantic Sea and insolently in- 
vaded Europe and Asia, for this sea was then navi- 
gable, and beyond the strait where you place the 
Pillars of Hercules there was an island larger than 
Asia (Minor) and Libya combined. From this 
island one could pass easily to other islands, and 
from these to the continent which lies around the 
interior sea. The sea on this side of the strait (the 
Mediterranean) of which we speak resembles a 



58 Sketches of Mexico. 

harbor with a narrow entrance ; but there is a gen- 
uine sea, and the land which surrounds it is a veri- 
table continent. In the island of Atlantis reigned 
three kings with great and marvelous power. They 
had under their dominion the whole of Atlantis, 
several other islands, and some parts of the conti- 
nent. At one time their power extended into 
Libya, and into Europe as far as Tyrrhenia, and, 
uniting their whole force, they sought to destroy 
our countries at a blow ; but their defeat stopped 
the invasion and gave entire independence to all the 
countries this side of the Pillars of Hercules. Aft- 
erward, in one day and one fatal night, there came 
mighty earthquakes and inundations which engulfed 
the warlike people. Atlantis disappeared beneath 
the sea, and then that sea became inaccessible, so 
that navigation on it ceased on account of the quan- 
tity of mud which the engulfed island left in its 
place." 

Plutarch, in his Life of Solo7i, relates that when 
that lawgiver was in Egypt *' he conferred with 
the priests and learned from them the story of 
Atlantis." 

Diodorus Siculus states that, *' Over against 
Africa lies a very great island in the vast ocean, 
many days' sail from Libya westward." 

Dr. J. W. Foster adds: "■ These passages from the 



Origin of the Mexicans. 59 

ancient classics as to the existence of a western 
continent, coupled with certain traditions to be 
found in the ancient Mexican records of a great 
catastrophe, the combined results of earthquakes 
and inundations, by which a large area in Central 
America became submerged and a greater portion 
of the population destroyed, have reopened the dis- 
cussion whether Plato's story of Atlantis does not 
belong to the sobrieties of truth." * 

Mr. George Catlin, in The Lifted and Subsided 
Rocks of America (London, 1870), tells how the 
native tribes in Mexico and Central America, in 
British and Dutch Guinea, clearly describe such a 
cataclysm. In a volume written four years earlier 
he tells of such a tradition among the Indians of 
North America. 

The most enthusiastic advocate of this story is 
the famous Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg. Hubert 
Howe Bancroft quotes extensively from the abbe's 
earlier and later work on the Codex Chimalpopoca, 
and while he does not accept all his conclusions he 
does say, " I know no man better qualified than was 
Brasseur de Bourbourg to penetrate the obscurity 
of American primitive history. His familiarity 
with the Nahua and Central American languages, 
his indefatigable industry and general erudition, 

* Prehistoric Races, p. 396. 



6o Sketches of Mexico. 

rendered him eminently fit for such a task, and 
every word written by such a man on such a sub- 
ject is entitled to respectful consideration." * 

The abbe's persistent study of an ancient manu- 
script in the Nahua language, which he calls the 
Codex CJiimalpopoca^ and which purports to be a 
History of the Kingdoms of Culhuacan and Mexico^ 
led him to the conclusion that what is now the 
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean vSeawas formerly 
solid land, and that this land extended across the 
Atlantic Ocean possibly as far as the Canary 
Islands. He also believed that the first civilization 
of the earth was on the lost Atlantis, *' that the first 
ceremonial religion commenced there, as well as the 
first age of bronze, which spread over the two hem- 
ispheres, and that we have the beginning and basis 
of American ethnology." He appeals to compara- 
tive philology to support his views : 

" The word Atlas and Atlantic hav^e no satis- 
factory etymology in any language known to 
Europe. They are not Greek, and cannot be 
referred to any known language of the Old World.f 
But in the Nahuatl (or Toltecan) language we find 
immediately the radical a, at!., which signifies 
water, man, and the top of the head. From this 

* N'ative Races, p 127. 

\ Vocab. en lengna Alcxicana y Castellana, Molina. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 6i 

comes a series of words, such as Atlan, on the 
border of, or amid the water, from which we have 
the adjective Atlantic. We have also atlaca, to 
combat, or to be in agony ; it means, also, to hurl 
or dart from the water, and in the preterit makes 
Atlaz. A city named Atlan existed when the con- 
tinent was discovered by Columbus in the Gulf of 
Urba, Darien, with a good harbor, but is now re- 
duced to an unimportant pueblo named Ada." * 
Charles Martins, in Revue des Deux Mondes (March, 
1867), says that ** Hydrography, geology, and bot- 
any agree in teaching us that the Azores, the Cana- 
ries, and Madeira are the remains of a great con- 
tinent." 

The interesting account of the voyages and ex- 
plorations of the United States ship Dolphin, the 
German frigate Gazelle, and her majesty's ships 
Lightning, Porcupitte, and Challeizger, as given by 
Professor John T. Short (p. 501, et seq), are confirm- 
atory of Martins's first argument. On the second 
argument a member of the Challenger staff, in a lec- 
ture delivered in London soon after their return, 
" expressed the fullest confidence that the great sub- 
marine plateau is the remains of the 'lost Atlantis,' 
citing as proof the fact that the inequalities, the 
mountains and valleys of its surface, could never 

* PrehistoHc Races, p. 397. 



62 Sketches of Mexico. 

have been produced in accordance with any laws 
for the disposition of sediment nor by submarine 
elevation, but, on the contrary, must have been 
carved by agencies acting above the water level." 
On the third argument it is interesting to note that 
Sir C. Wyville Thomson, of the same ship, says he 
" found that the fauna of the coast of Brazil brought 
up by his dredging machine were similar to that of 
the western coast of south Europe." 

Among the most interesting objects in the Na- 
tional Museum of the city of Mexico is a colossal 
head of diorite which stands three feet high. It 
has long been a study for all Mexican and some 
foreign archaeologists. It is now generally believed 
that Seiior Eufemio Abadiano has discovered its 
true meaning, in declaring it to be a " personifica- 
tion of Atlantis, the lost continent." With the 
Codex Chimalpopoca, already referred to, in his hand, 
Sefior Abadiano made a careful study of this curi- 
ous piece of ancient sculpture. He finds the story 
of the great catastrophe by which Atlantis was sub- 
merged explained to his satisfaction, and puts the 
date of its occurrence at about looo B. C, at which 
period the great Votan, of whom we shall speak 
more fully later on, reached Mexico. 

Edward Garcynski, at this date traveling and 
studying in Mexico, says, " We have only to thank 



Origin of the Mexicans. 63 

Plato for the name of the lost continent ; " but, 
after referring to Abadiano's Study of the Codex 
Chimalpopoca, he adds, '' It is in Mexican literature 
that we find precise statements." 

In Smithsonian Report for 1859 (P* '^^^) Professor 
Retzins declares: "We find one and the same form 
of skull in the Canary Islands, in front of the Afri- 
can coast, and in the Carib Islands on the opposite 
coast, which faces Africa. . . . The color of the skin 
on both sides of the Atlantic is represented in these 
populations as being of a reddish brown. . . . These 
facts involuntarily recall the tradition which Plato 
tells us in his Timceus was communicated to Solon 
by an Egyptian priest, representing the ancient 
Atlantis." 

Dr. Le Plongeon found that the sandals upon 
the feet of the great goddess Chaacmol, which he 
discovered in Yucatan, and of the statue of a priest- 
ess found on the island of Mujeres, "are exact 
representations of those found on the feet of the 
Guanches, the early inhabitants of the Canary 
Islands, whose mummies are yet occasionally met 
with in the caves of Teneriffe and the other isles of 
the group." 

Bishop Las Casas, who devotes an entire chapter 
to this lost island or continent, not only expresses his 
firm belief in its existence, but suggests that possi- 



64 Sketches of Mexico. 

bly Columbus had read Plato's story, and thought, 
perchance, that the submerged land had left 
another island or continent still above the water 
which might reward his patience and perseverance. 
Count Buffon, of Burgundy, one of the most famous 
naturalists and writers of the eighteenth century 
(died in Paris, 1788), believed that Africa and Amer- 
ica were formerly connected with this great chain of 
rock, whose rugged links are now buried in a waste 
of waters. 

Siguenza, as frequently quoted by Clavigero, be- 
lieved in the Atlantida. And Clavigero himself 
says : '* For the reasons we have already submitted 
we are persuaded that there was formerly a great 
tract of land which united the now most eastern 
part of Brazil to the most western part of Africa, 
and that all that space of land may have been sunk 
by s'ome violent earthquake." * 

In 1737 Mons. de Bauche presented to the Royal 
Academy of Science, of Paris, hydrographical charts 
of that part of the Atlantic Ocean in support of this 
same theory. It is said that his charts " were ex- 
amined and approved by the academy." 

It is sometimes argued that it is inconceivable to 
suppose any earthquake could destroy such an im- 
mense tract of land, which, according to some, must 

* History of Mexico^ vol. iii, p. 117. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 65 

have been about one thousand five hundred miles 
long. But it is not necessary to insist that it was 
the work of one shock ; it might have been a suc- 
cession of shocks. It should not be forgotten that 
it is stated in history that in 1663 one single quake 
completely leveled a chain of rocky mountains three 
hundred miles long in Canada. No one can say 
what might have happened, or would even happen 
now, if the great masses of combustible matter in 
the immense natural mines under our feet should 
become ignited and communicate with each other. 
Would it require more physical force to submerge 
an Atlantis than to throw an Ixtaccihuatl or a Po- 
pocatepetl seventeen and nineteen thousand feet 
up into the air, and leave them standing there with 
their heads in the eternal snows while the ages come 
and go } Perhaps the very disappearance of the 
Atlantis chains under the Atlantic billows may have 
been succeeded by the upheaval of the Mexican 
volcanoes, for land and water must always carry- the 
same proportion. 

In the contemplation of such majestic facts we 
may sing as did Moses fifteen centuries before Christ 
(Deut. xxxii, 3), or the psalmist later (Psalm cxi, 2), 
or the aged apostle in exile on lonely Patmos, 
" Great and marvelous are thy worki* ^ ord God 
Alraighty " (Rev. xv, 3). 



66 Sketches of Mexico. 

Of the Asiatic theories there are at least six, un- 
der all of which there is, perhaps, some foundation 
of truth. This seems quite evident when we find, 
as we shall later, that several of the tribes of Mex- 
ico preserve, in their traditions and paintings, the 
memory of the creation, the deluge, the Tower of 
Babel, the confusion of tongues, and the dispersion 
of the people. 

I. The theory found in the Book of Mormon 
hardly merits mention. The story is given in Ban- 
croft's Native Races ^ vol. v, and covers five pages 
(p. 96, et seq). It is rather romantic and reaches 
from the Tower of Babel, soon after which it is 
claimed the first Mormons came to this continent, 
down to September 22, 1827, when Joseph Smith 
removed the buried book from the hill of Cumorah, 
Ontario County, N. Y. The whole story is not 
only a pretentious fraud, but also a blasphemous 
perversion of Old Testament history. 

The learned John Fiske in his recent valuable 
work, The Discovery of America (Boston, 1892), well 
says : '' It is extremely difficult for an impostor to 
concoct a narrative without making blunders that 
can easily be detected by a critical scholar. For 
example, the Book of Mormon, in the passage cited, 
in supremely blissful ignorance introduces oxen, 
sheep, and silkworms, as well as the knowledge of 



Origin of the Mexicans. 6^ 

smelting iron, into pre-Columbian America " (vol. i, 
p. 179). 

2. The Jewish theory. Probably no theory has 
given origin to greater discussion than that the lost 
tribes of Israel were the first populators of all the 
Pacific States as far south as Peru. Learned men 
are found arrayed on both sides of the question. 

Father Diego Duran, of vast erudition in the an- 
cient history of Mexico, is the first author of note 
to publish this plan. He wrote in 1585. From a 
study of traditions and picture painting, aided by 
an aged Indian at Cholula, who had lived nearly a 
hundred years, he came to the " conclusion that 
these natives are of the ten tribes of Israel that 
Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, made prisoners 
and carried to Assyria in the time of Hoshea, king 
of Israel, and in the time of Hezekiah, king of Jeru- 
salem, as can be seen in the fourth book of the 
Kings, seventeenth chapter, etc." 

In his first chapter, which is entirely devoted to 
this subject. Father Duran quotes several times from 
the Old Testament, but relies mainly on a citation 
from the Book of Esdras, where he reads that " they 
went to live in a land, remote and separated, which 
had never been inhabited, to which they had a long 
and tedious journey of a year and a half, for which 
reason it is supposed these people are found in all 



68 Sketches of Mexico. 

the islands and lands of the ocean constituting the 
Occident." 

It is, to say the least, amusing to see the restraint 
under which men studied and wrote in the sixteenth 
century. Father Duran brings his arguments to a 
close by saying that there can be no doubt as to 
conclusions ; " but in all I submit myself to the cor- 
rection of the Holy Catholic Church.'' * 

Gregorio Garcia, who resided nine years in Peru, 
in his Origin of the Indians (Madrid, 1729), enlarges 
on Duran 's plan and gives numberless supposed 
similarities between the Mexicans and Hebrews in 
character, dress, religion, physical peculiarities, con- 
dition, customs, and language. 

Lord Kingsborough in a most scholarly and dig- 
nified way tries to prove the same theory. He also 
gives an extended list of similarities between the 
Jews and the Mexicans. Among other things he 
says : " It is probable that the Toltecs were ac- 
quainted with the sin of the first man, committed 
at the suggestion of the woman, herself deceived 
by the serpent, who tempted her with the fruit 
of the forbidden tree, who was the origin of all 
our calamities, and by whom death came into the 
world." f 

* Hisioria de las Indias, vol. i, p. 3. 

f Quoted by Bancroft, Native Races, vol. v, p. 85. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 69 

"The character and history of Christ and Huit- 
zilopochtH present certain analogies.""^ 

" The Mexicans appHed the blood of sacrifices to 
the same uses as the Jews."f 

For an excellent resume of all the interesting and 
curious analogies contained in Lord Kingsborough's 
voluminous work, see Bancroft's Native Races, vol. 
V, pp. 80-91 inclusive. Suffice it here to say that 
this enthusiastic, almost fanatical advocate of the 
Jewish discovery of America finds something par- 
allel in Mexican traditions to the entire biblical his- 
tory from Eden to Calvary. 

Mr. James Adair, who lived and traded for forty 
years with the American Indians (London, 1775), is 
a warm advocate of this same theory, following in 
the footsteps of Garcia. Professor Short (p. 143) 
gives the names of a number of learned authors 
who practically agree with Duran and Garcia. 

Circumstantial evidence has not been lacking in 
our country toward the support of this theory. In 
181 5 Mr. James Merrick, of Pittsfield, Mass., found, 
while plowing, what seemed to be a black strap 
about six inches in length. On trying to cut it he 
" found it was formed of two pieces of thick raw- 
hide, sewed and made water-tight with the sinews 
of some animal, and gummed over; and in the fold 

* Kingsborough. -j- Idem. 



/o Sketches of Mexico. 

was contained four folded pieces of parchment."* 
One piece was, unfortunately, destroyed, but when 
the other pieces were taken to Harvard College 
they were discovered to be quotations in Hebrew 
from the Old Testament. 

More recently, in the State of Ohio, in the heart 
of a mound was discovered a stone casket, which on 
being opened was found to contain a slab of stone 
eight inches long and four and a half inches wide at 
one end and three at the other, with writing which 
the Episcopal rector of Newark pronounced to be 
the Ten Commandments in ancient Hebrew.f 

In my library I have an old book published in 
Mexico in 1 807, Decree of Napoleon^ Emperor of the 
French^ on the Jews, etc. This curious old book, 
written by Juan Lopez Cancelada, claims that 
after the captivity the ten tribes of Israel migrated 
as far as Tartary at first. Then later they passed 
over the Straits of Anian (Behring) and spread 
over the American continent. Cancelada appeals 
to the letters of William Penn to prove (p. 98) that 
the Quakers found the Indians of Pennsylvania 
using the Hebrew language, names, coins, and cus- 
toms. 

The same author cites two finds of elephant bones 
in Mexico — one at Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1784, 

* Native Races, vol. v, p. 93. ^ Idem., p. 94. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 71 

and the other at Aguascalientes, in 1795 — and says 
that the Jews brought them across the straits on 
rafts. 

Mr. George Jones in his work colonizes this con- 
tinent with ^' a remanent of the inhabitants of Tyre 
who escaped from their island city when it was 
besieged by Alexander the Great in 332 B. C." * 

3. Concerning the colonists from India it is 
only necessary to say that it rests on analogies be- 
tween Buddhism and the religion of the early Mex- 
icans, pointed out by Humboldt, Tschudi, Viollet- 
Leduc, Count Stolberg, and some others. The 
presence of the serpent among Mexican antiquities 
is everywhere manifest, and Baron Humboldt thinks 
he sees '' the famous serpent Kaliya or Kaluiaga 
conquered by Vishnu, . . . and in the Mexican 
Tonatiuh, the Hindoo Krishna sung of in the Bhaga- 
vata-Purana." f 

4. The Chinese theory is warmly advocated by 
our worthy missionary. Rev. Dr. McMaster, of 
San Francisco, Cal. Perhaps the first writer in 
modern times to call attention to this theory 
was the celebrated French Sinologist Deguines, in 

* Origival History of Ancient America, Founded on the Ruins of 
Antiquity; The Identity of the Aborigines with the People of Tyrus 
and Israel, and the Introduction of Christianity by the Apostle St. 
Thomas (London, 1843). 

f Short, p, 466, 



^2 Sketches of Mexico. 

Memoir es de rAcademie des Inscriptiones et Belles- 
Lettres, vol. xxviii (Paris, 1761). He found in the 
history of Li Yan Tcheon, written in the seventeenth 
century, the account of a Buddhist missionary who 
returned in 499 A. D. " from a long journey of dis- 
covery to the remote and unknown East." The 
distance given is about 20,000 Chinese h, or about 
6,666 miles. In 1841 Dr. Neuman, of Munich,, 
after mastering the Chinese language, published a 
translation of this story which may be seen in Charles 
G. Leland's Fusaiig, or the Chinese Discovery of 
America (New York, 1875). 

These published accounts of what the Hori-Shin 
saw seem very significant to the traveler in Mexico. 
There is a considerable resemblance between the 
Otomi, spoken in Mexico, and the Chinese. Ban- 
croft thinks the strongest proof upon which the 
Chinese theory rests is the physical resemblance 
between the inhabitants, and quotes Taylor, in the 
Calif ornian Farmer, as saying: '' I have repeatedly 
seen instances, both of men and women, who in San 
Francisco could readily be mistaken for Chinese, 
their almond-shaped eyes, light complexion, and 
long braided black hair giving them a marked simi- 
larity." Linguistic affinities, while they are found 
in Mexico, especially in the Otomi, are more com- 
mon in Peru. 



Origin of the Mexicans. 73 

5. The Japanese theory is to us still more plausi- 
ble. Josiah Priest* thinks that Quetzalcoatl, the 
great culture hero, that "white saintly personage 
from the East, was a Japanese." 

Vallejo, in his History of California, says there 
were Japanese in that part of Mexico at the time of 
the conquest, and traces of the Japanese language 
are still found among the coast tribes. It is also a 
well-known fact that Japanese coming to Masxico 
can converse with the Indians of the Hausteca, 
whom they resemble in stature and facial appear- 
ance, as readily as can an Italian with a Spaniard. 
Mr. Brooks, in 1875, published, in the San Francisco 
Evening Bulletin, a detailed account of forty-one 
particular instances of Japanese wrecks along the 
Pacific, and says that he has the records of over one 
hundred such disasters. He also asserts that a ma- 
jority of the survivors remained permanently on this 
side of the water. A well-known general in the 
Mexican army is the son of a Japanese mariner, 
who early in this century was driven in his junk off 
the coast of his native land by a storm, which con- 
tinued to rage till he was finally picked up by a 
Mexican vessel and landed in Mazatlan, where he 
lived and died. 

The Hon. Toshiro Fugita, Acting Japanese Con- 

* American Antiquities, etc., Albany, 1838. 



74 Sketches of Mexico. 

sul General in Mexico, tells me that geologists 
of his country believe that formerly there existed a 
strip of land, or possibly a series of islands, between 
California and the ancient empire of the sun. 

6. We have purposely left the Phoenician theory 
till the last because of its seeming importance ; not 
that we consider the foregoing as improbable, but 
especially because this antedates all other Asiatic 
theories, and its relation to old Testament history 
makes it of all-absorbing interest. 

When Israel's King David died and his son had 
succeeded to the throne King Hiram of Tyre wrote 
a letter of condolence to Solomon (i Kings v). It is 
well known that a warm friendship existed between 
the two kings. Taking advantage of his friendly 
disposition, the young king of Israel appealed to 
Hiram for help in building the temple committed 
to him by his father and also the palace at Lebanon. 
This affecting piece of biblical history closes thus: 
"And the king commanded, and they brought 
great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay 
the foundation of the house. And Solomon's build- 
ers and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the 
stone squarers : so they prepared timber and stones 
to build the house" (verses 17 and 18). 

From the same chapter we learn that 138,000 Jews 
were engaged in the work at Lebanon, and if an 



Origin of the Mexicans. 75 

equal number of Phoenicians were employed it made 
a great army of 276,000 men felling cedars, hewing 
stone, etc., which great number of men was supported 
by Solomon, who gave to " Hiram twenty thousand 
measures of wheat for food to his household, and 
twenty measures of pure oil ; thus gave Solomon to 
Hiram year by year." This ancient reciprocity 
treaty lasted for years, to the mutual benefit of both 
parties interested. After awhile Solomon ceded to 
Hiram the important port of Ezion-Geber, on the 
Red Sea. Here, some twenty years after the begin- 
ning of their pleasant relations, the two kings built a 
navy, " and Hiram sent in the navy his servants, 
shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the 
servants of Solomon " (t Kings ix, 27). We are told 
that they went to Ophir for gold, that their ships 
were built large and strong, after the pattern of the 
ships of Tarshish, and that '' once in three years 
came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and 
silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks " (i Kings 
X, 22). 

Where was this distant Ophir, this '* fruitful re- 
gion ?" * Our commentators and encyclopedists 
agree that " it is difficult to ascertain its situation." 
The majority say that it was either in Arabia, In- 
dia, or Africa. But an old Spanish author, Arias 

*Gesenius, in McClintock & Strong's Encyclopcedia. 



76 Sketches of Mexico. 

Montanus (b. 1527, d. 1598), locates it in Peru, and 
his view, doubtless, accounts for the following pas- 
sage in Ben Jonson's Alchemist (Act ii, Scene i) : 

" Come on, sir ; now set your foot on shore 
In Novo Orbe. Here's the rich Peru ; 
And there within, sir, are the golden mines, 
• Great Solomon's Ophir." 

Baron Humboldt locates it at Veragua, United 
States of Colombia ; and Fountaine, in his Hoiv the 
World Was Peopled (pp. 259, 260), says : '' The 
Phoenician Ophir, or Ofor, which means in their an- 
cient language the Western Country, was Mexico 
and Central America, the land of gold." 

Mr. George Jones, devoting a whole volume to 
the subject, brings the Phoenicians first to Florida 
and then into the Gulf of Mexico and Yucatan. 

A most interesting paper appeared from the pen 
of Thomas Crawford Johnston in the Californian 
for November and December, 1892, which revives 
and sustains with great weight this Phoenician 
theory. Mr. Johnston resided for a year and a half 
in the islands of the South Pacific. He not only 
quotes the biblical facts already referred to, but 
marks out what he believes to have been the route 
followed by these most ancient and mysterious of 
navigators. This route, starting at the head of the 
Red Sea, comes down to the straits of Bab-el-Man- 



Origin of the Mexicans. "j^j 

deb, and from that to the coast of India, on to Cey- 
lon, to Java and Sumatra, thence to Malgrave Island 
and the Caroline Islands, Tonga, Samoa, and Rap- 
pa, thence to Easter Island and on to Mexico and 
Peru. He claims to have found substructions on 
several of these islands identical with those found 
under the remnants of Solomon's temple, especially 
in the size and shape of the enormous stones, weigh- 
ing, in some cases, over five tons. These substruc- 
tions he again connects with analogous ruins in 
Mexico and Peru. 

He then quotes Mr. Rawlinson's description of 
the Phoenicians, and claims " it is impossible for one 
to spend even a short time in Samoa without real- 
izing how suitable such a description would be if 
applied to the Samoans, while each day's observa- 
tion of them, their habits and customs, would only 
deepen the conviction that the observer was in con- 
tact with a people whose social usages must, at 
some possibly remote period, have been in very 
close touch with Hebrew institutions." 

He found a tradition on every isle visited that re- 
ferred their origin " to some land lying in the direc- 
tion of the setting sun." On one island about mid- 
ocean he found an old tower forty feet high and 
the ruins of an ancient and evidently once large 
city. The natives say that it was occupied by " a 



78 Sketches of Mexico. 

powerful people called Anut, who had large vessels 
in which they made long voyages east and west, 
many moons being required for these voyages." 

Coming to Mexico, Mr. Johnston finds evidence 
of the presence of the Phoenicians '' intensified a 
thousandfold." Architectural remains and forms 
of religious worship are clearly Phoenician. " The 
Roman sacrifice and the idol, half man and half 
brute, are beyond question those of the Phoenician 
Baal or Moloch." His picture of the Aztec vase 
with the fringed disk symbol is certainly striking. 
He then claims that the great Calendar Stone in the 
National Museum is " the national monument of a 
seafaring people in the form of a mariner's com- 
pass," in the center of which are " seen the faces of 
Coh, the Mexican Noah, and his wife, the first re- 
corded navigators, and underneath these the Aztec 
symbol for water." On this point at least he is sus- 
tained by Captain Hoff, late United States Consul 
at Vera Cruz, who on more than one occasion elo- 
quently related his convictions on this subject to 
the lecturer. 

It is further pointed out that the friendly and in- 
timate relations existing between the ancient Phoe- 
nicians and the Egyptians, Hebrews, Assyrians, 
Babylonians, Greeks, and Persians account for the 
fact " that in their metallurgy these motives are 



Origin of the Mexicans. 79 

invariably either Egyptian or Assyrian, while their 
sculptures usually showed a large admixture of 
Greek." All this seems true in Mexico. 

So, after summoning other analogies, Mr. John- 
ston goes back to Ezion-geber. where Solomon and 
Hiram built their navy. " These mariners were no 
rude, uneducated horde, but a class of men who 
have passed beyond the merely animal tendency of 
life, and, rising above fog and miasma, live in an 
atmosphere mainly intellectual — men who dominate 
their surroundings, and in touching leave an indeli- 
ble trace of their presence and influence behind 
them." *' The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were 
thy mariners : thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were 
in thee, were thy pilots " (Ezek. xxvii, 8). 

The commercial supremacy of these Phoenician 
merchants in ancient times is a well-established fact. 
Their trading posts were everywhere found in the 
Mediterranean and out on the Atlantic as far north 
as the '* Tin Islands," as England was then called. 
That their route to Ceylon was a well-beaten one 
no one will deny. Neither of these routes required 
the time assigned in sacred writ to the voyages 
made at the time of Solomon's reign. Architec- 
tural remains, traditions, manners and customs, re- 
ligious beliefs and practices (and here too we see the 
Phoenician monotheist, in the process of time, de- 



8o Sketches of Mexico. 

veloping into the polytheist), the great Calendar or 
Compass Stone, and the testimony of some English 
and not a few Mexican authors, justify Mr. Johnston 
in landing his Phoenican navigators, as does also 
Ordonez, on the coasts of Peru and Mexico about 
looo B. C, which date corresponds with the dates 
given in the Bible narrative of the historic voyages 
of Hiram and Solomon and the building of the Jew- 
ish temple.* 

* Here the lecturer exhibited a model of the Aztec Calendar Stone, 
and a piece of a large vase in which the sacred fire was kept. This 
has been i-ecently unearthed near Tezcoco. 



LECTURE m. 



PREHISTORIC MEXICANS. 



LECTURE III. 
PREHISTORIC MEXICANS. 

WE have no pet theory concerning the first 
inhabitants of Mexico, but beheve there is 
a foundation of truth in several of the theories men- 
tioned in the preceding lecture. 

No one can travel along the Pacific coast and 
throughout the territory of our next-door neighbor 
without finding everywhere evidence of the presence 
of Mongolian blood, languages and religions, man- 
ners and customs. It seems probable that the wars 
of the Tartars drove many a colony across the strait 
or the ocean to this continent. 

The Phoenician navigators perhaps antedated 
these, while from the mysterious Atlantis, so long 
since submerged beneath the ocean billows, no- 
madic tribes may have spread themselves far and 
near over the continent, contemporaneous with, or 
even prior to, the construction of Solomon's temple. 
No doubt Clavigero is right in saying that the 
Americans descended from different nations. 

But Gregorio Garcia, who was so narrow-minded 
that he could see nothing except through Spanish 



$4 Sketches of Mexico. 

spectacles, and thought all Mexicans sprang from 
one family, provokes a smile from some of his argu- 
ments, especially when he tries to explain away the 
multiplicity of tongues by saying that "Satan 
prompted the Indians to learn various languages in 
order to prevent the extension of the true faith." 

This is not so strange when we recall the equally 
amusing fact that the president of Yale College, 
Rev. Ezra Stiles, D.D., in 1783, when preaching 
before the governor of the State of Connecticut 
appealed to the famous Dighton Rock, in Narra- 
gansett Bay, graven, as he believed, in the old 
Punic or Phoenician character and language, *' in 
proof that the Indians were of the accursed seed of 
Canaan, and were to be dispelled and rooted out 
by the European descendants of Japhet." * 

Such statements are as smile-provoking as the 
one so frequently quoted from Mexican mythology 
by certain materialistic authors who strive to give 
it the color of authority, and, leaning to the autoch- 
thonic theory of the race on this continent, calmly 
cite their origin as follows : " The races descended 
from six brothers, sons of the old Ixtacmixcohuatl 
and of his wife, Ilaneuey." 

Ixtacmixcohuatl means a white cloud in the 
shape of a snake, and refers to the Milky Way {via 

* Native Races, vol. v, 74. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 85 

lactect). Ilaneuey means old frog, and rana, or frog, 
is the earth ; thus the mother is the old earth. Now 
one of the sons of the heavens and the earth was 
Otomitl, the first of the human race.* 

Who does not see here, even iu this myth, evi- 
dence that the first Otomis had, somehow, heard 
something of the God of heaven stooping down to 
the garden of Eden and making man out of "' the 
dust of the earth ? " But when a recognized Church 
autlior solemnly asserts that angels from heaven 
picked up Asiatics by the hair of the head and, 
safely conveying them across the Pacific, set them 
on Mexican terra firma to inhabit this continent, 
and the learned Father Duran, after years of study, 
reaches the conclusion that a divine revelation is 
necessary to arrive at the truth of this matter, cer- 
tainly a novice may well hesitate to be too positive 
in the advocacy of any single theory. 

Besides, whether primitive Mexican races came 
from Africa or Asia, or from both, the fact remains 
that they were there, and there ages before Ferdi- 
nand ever ruled or Columbus dreamed of seeking 
new worlds. Indeed, it was quite likely that their 
coming was contemporaneous with the first foot- 
prints of man in Europe, and possibly when their 
ancient hieroglyphs and picture paintings are fully 

^Mexico A Traves de los Siglos, vol. i, p. 65. 



86 Sketches of Mexico. 

deciphered we may have a history as old as that of 
India, China, or Egypt. 

Perhaps the most vakiable of all recently pub- 
lished histories on Mexico is a monumental work 
of five large folio volumes entitled Mexico A Travcs 
de los Siglos — Mexico Through the Ages. It is the 
combined effort of five of the best native writers of 
present times,* who represent in themselves nearly 
every school of thought in the country. 

This valuable work, in common with most histo- 
ries of Mexico, opens with the assertion that these 
races originally inhabited the country lying to our 
south : the Otomi in central Mexico ; the Maya- 
Quiche, to the south, especially in Yucatan, and 
migrating tribes in the north generally known as the 
Nahuas. The existence of these races at a very 
early period, perhaps three thousand years before 
the Christian era, as some writers claim, is proven 
in a variety of ways. The peculiar make of hatch- 
ets, knives, and arrowheads, of obsidian, serpentine 
stone, and silex, and other hard substances found 
wherever these races flourished is evidence of a very 
remote period. 

Sefior Orozco y Barra lays much stress on his 
linguistic research, and from it not only claims 

* Juan de Dies Arias, Alfredo Chavero, General Vicente Riva 
Palacios, Jose Maria Vigil, Julio Zaiate. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 87 

great antiquity for the Mayas, but finds fifteen dif- 
ferent languages or dialects in Central America and 
the West India islands related to the Maya language. 
The amulets and little idols, also used as orna- 
ments on the person, which are being unearthed 
in many parts, notably in Tuyahualco and Teotihu- 
acan, both of which cities were doubtless buried 
ages ago by volcanic eruptions, but are now yielding 
up their long-hidden treasures, are all of rudimen- 
tary state and prove the backwardness of a primi- 
tive age. In some parts these amulets and idols 
represent a later period, and are found of greatly 
superior workmanship and made of obsidian, of cop- 
per, and of gold.* The palaces of Palenque, Mitla, 
Papantla, and others must have been built in those 
remote ages. The pyramids of Cholula and Teoti- 
huacan have withstood earthquakes and kept their 
heads above the vomiting of angry volcanoes for 
unnumbered cycles. The fossils of mastodons, ele- 
phants, oxen, zebras, horses, and other animals 
frequently found are mute but powerful witnesses 
to the animal life of the continent in the remote past, 
while human skeletons of immense size, exhumed 
chiefly on the Gulf Coast, give rise to the fables, 
perpetuated during the colonial period, of the ex- 

*The lecturer exhibited numerous amulets, idols, and obsidian 
articles unearthed in different localities. 



88 Sketches of Mexico. 

istence of giants contemporaneous with or prior to 
the times of the Otomis, the Mayas, and the Na- 
huas. Of these, then, the Maya-Quiches were the 
most ancient. Tradition, records, and architectural 
remains all combine to testify that this great family 
is the oldest on the continent ; at least, if not 
the oldest, the first of which any record can be 
found.- In the fertile valley of the River Usuma- 
sinta, south of the Tehuantepec Isthmus, was the cra- 
dle of American civilization, " a civilization which 
was old and ripe when the Toltecs came in contact 
with it. Under the shadow of the magnificent and 
mysterious ruins of Palenque a people grew to power 
who spread into Guatemala and Honduras, north- 
ward toward Anahuac and southward into Yucatan, 
and for a period of probably twenty-five centuries 
exercised a sway which at one time excited the 
envy and fear of its neighbors. 

" We are fully aware of the uncertainty which 
attaches itself to tradition in general, and of the 
caution with which it should be accepted in treat- 
ing of the foundations of history ; but still, with ref- 
erence to the origin and growth of Old World na- 
tions, nothing better offers itself in many instances 
than suspicious legends. The histories of the Egyp- 
tians, the Trojans, the Greeks, and of even ancient 
Rome rest on no surer footing. It is certain that 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 89 

while the legendary history of any nation may be 
confused, exaggerated, and besides full of breaks, 
still there are some main and fundamental facts 
out of which it has grown, and this, we think, is 
especially true of the New World tradition."* 

The founder of this great empire was one Votan, 
who arrived on these western shores about 1000 
B. C. Of him Clavigero writes : " They say that Vo- 
tan, the grandson of that respectable old man who 
built the great ark to save himself and family from 
the deluge, and one of those who undertook the 
building of that lofty edifice which was to reach up 
to heaven, went by express command of the Lord 
to people that land." f 

To this Professor Short adds: "The tradition of 
Votan, the founder of the Maya culture, though 
somewhat warped, probably by having passed 
through priestly hands, is nevertheless one of the 
most valuable pieces of information which we have 
concerning the ancient Americans. Without it our 
knowledge of the origin of the Mayas would be a 
hopeless blank, and the ruins of Palenque would be 
more a mystery than ever. According to this tra- 
dition Votan came from the East, from Valum 
Chivim, by the way of Valum Votan, from across 

* Short, p. 204. 

I" Hist. ant. de Mexico (English translation, 1807), vol. 5. 



Qo Sketches of Mexico. 

the sea by divine command, to apportion the land 
of the new continent to seven families which he 
brought with him."* 

His exact starting-point and the means by which 
he reached the New World cannot be proven. He 
is said to have made four journeys to his native 
land, and finally to have mysteriously disappeared. 
His achievements, while here, were as great as those 
we read of in connection with any ancient hero. 
His great city, '* Nachan " (city of the serpents), is 
believed by many to be identical with Palenque. 
So rapid was the growth of his empire that Votan 
founded three tributary monarchies. Toward the 
close of his career he wrote a book in order to re- 
cord his deeds and prove that he was a " chane," 
or serpent. This work was scrupulously guarded 
by the people of Tacoaloya, in Soconusco, for many 
generations, but finally discovered by the Bishop of 
Chiapas, Francisco Nunez de la Vega. It was in 
the Tzendal language. By the aid of an Indian he 
managed to read a part of it, and after publishing 
in his Constitiiciones some general statements about 
Votan and his having seen the Tower of Babel, like 
a true son of the Church and a genuine Vandal the 
old bishop committed the precious document to the 
flames, in 1691. 

* North Americans of Antiquity, p. 204. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 91 

Other copies, however, seem to have gotten into 
existence ; for Ramon de Ordonez, of Chiapas, had 
one as late as the close of the eighteenth century, 
and, like the one above referred to, had for its title, 
Proof That I am a Culebra ; that is, a snake, 
which title he proves in the body of the work 
by saying that " he is a Culebra because he is 
Chivim." 

It should be remembered that the symbol of life 
and power among the Mexicans and Central 
Americans has always been a serpent. Of this one 
i.i constantly reminded in going through the Na- 
tional Museum in the capital. 

Pablo Feliz Cabrera, in speaking of the movements 
of the children of Israel, says in his Teatro Critico : 
'^ Others had their dwellings about the skirts of 
Mount Hermon, beyond Jordan to the eastward of 
Canaan. Of these last were Cadmus and his wife, 
Hermione or Hermonia, both memorable in sacred 
as well as profane history, as their exploits occa- 
sioned their being exalted to the rank of deities, 
while in regard to their metamorphosis into snakes 
(culebras), mentioned by Ovid {Metam., lib. iii), their 
being Hivites may have given rise to this fabulous 
transmutation, the name in the Phoenican language 
implying a snake, which the ancient Hebrew writ- 
ers suppose to have been given from this people 



92 Sketches of Mexico. 

being accustomed to live in caves underground like 
snakes." 

A little further on in his book Cabrera reaches 
the conclusion that the Votanites were Carthagin- 
ians. This conjecture of his may throw some light 
upon this strange and wonderfully mysterious peo- 
ple, concerning whom no student of American his- 
tory can afford to be indifferent. For while, as Pro- 
fessor Short says, '' some of the details of the 
Votanic tradition are not worthy of a moment's 
consideration, it is quite certain that in the gen- 
eral facts we have a key to the origin of what all 
Americanists agree in pronouncing the oldest civil- 
ization on this continent." 

Senor Orozco y Barra seems convinced that this 
people had their earliest home on the Atlantic 
coast of the United States, that they passed from 
Florida into Cuba, and thence into Yucatan, while 
some, Pimentel among others, find their early home 
in the valley of our own Mississippi. 

We have called them Maya-Quiches. It does not 
seem quite clear whether a branch of the Maya re- 
ceived the name Quiches, or whether the Quiches 
amalgamated with the Mayas. Professor Short 
thinks them a branch of the great Maya family 
but developing their own institutions, dialects, etc. 

Sefior Pimentel says that the name Quiche was 



Prehistoric M?:xicans. 93 

applied to the first empire of Palenque, and signified 
** many trees," and that it was employed by the 
" innumerable families of different nations which 
composed it, to symbolize its various branches." 

"The tradition of their origin states that they 
came from the far East, across immense tracts of 
land and water ; that in their former home they 
had multiplied considerably and lived without 
civilization and with but few wants ; they paid no 
tribute, spoke a common language, did not bow 
down to wood and stone, but, lifting their eyes 
toward heaven, observed the will of their Creator ; 
they attended with respect the rising of the sun, 
and saluted with their invocations the morning 
star ; with loving and obedient hearts they ad- 
dressed their prayers to Heaven for the gift of off- 
spring: 'Hail, Creator and Maker! regard us, 
attend us. Heart of Heaven, Heart of Earth, do 
not forsake us ; do not leave us. God of Heaven 
and Earth, Heart of Heaven, Heart of Earth, con- 
sider our posterity always. Accord us repose, a 
glorious repose, peace and prosperity, justice, life, 
and our being. Grant to us, O, Hurakan, to be 
enlightened and fruitful, thou who comprehendest 
all things great and small !' " 

The National Book of the Quiches is one of the 
richest mythological legacies left us by primitive 



94 Sketches of Mexico. 

people. It is known by the name oi Popol Vuh, and 
for what we know of it we are indebted to Dr. C. 
Scherzer, of Vienna, and Abbe Brasseur de Bour- 
boiirg, as well as to a Dominican father named 
Ximenes, who was curate in the little Indian town 
of Chichicastenango, among the mountains of 
Guatemala. This Spanish curate, '' noted for his 
learning and love of the truth," died in the early 
part of the eighteenth century and left many valu- 
able manuscripts. It is generally supposed that 
his expose of the ill-treatment of the Indians by 
the colonial authorities was sufficient cause for their 
partial destruction and total suppression. Some, 
however, after remaining hid for long years in an 
obscure corner of the Dominican convent of Gaute- 
mala, came to light on the suppression of all 
religious orders, and were deposited in the library 
of the University of San Carlos in that city. In 
1854 the traveler and author, Dr. Scherzer, found 
there this famous Popol Vtih, as translated from the 
Quiche into Spanish by Father Ximenes, and this 
he carefully copied and published in Vienna in 
1856. 

Abbe de Bourbourg says that Ximenes dis- 
covered it toward the last of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, but, being dissatisfied with Ximenes's transla- 
tion, he went himself to live among the descendants 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 95 

of the M:iya- Quiches till he " elaborated a new and 
literal translation." 

Bancroft believes the native Quiche to have 
been so thoroughly under the influence of the 
Spanish friar that, " consciously or unconsciously, a 
tinge of biblical expression has influenced the form 
of the narrative." But he adopts the language and 
conclusions of Professor Max Miiller in saying^ 
"Much remains in these American traditions which 
is so different from anything else in the national 
literatures of other countries that we may safely 
treat it as the genuine growth of the intellectual 
soil of America." In his third volume on Native 
Races Bancroft gives an excellent condensation of 
the translation of Popol Vich, referred to by both 
Bourbourg and Scherzer. Perhaps the most inter- 
esting of all is the Quiche account of the creation. 
" In rude, strange eloquence and poetic originality 
it is one of the rarest relics of aboriginal thought." 
The English translation runs as follows : 

*'And the heaven was formed, and all the signs 
thereof set in their angle and alignment, and its 
boundaries fixed toward the four winds by the 
Creator and Former, and Mother and Father of life 
and existence — he by whom all move and breathe, 
the Father and Cherisher of the peace of nations 
and of the civilization of his people — he whose 



96 Sketches of Mexico. 

wisdom has projected the excellence of all that is 
on the earth, or in the lakes, or in the sea. 

" Behold the first word and the first discourse. 
There was as yet no man, nor any animal, nor bird, 
nor fish, nor crawfish, nor any pit, nor ravine, nor 
green herb, nor any tree ; nothing was but the 
firmament. The face of the earth had not yet ap- 
peared — only the peaceful sea and all the space of 
heaven. There was nothing yet joined together, 
nothing that clung to anything else ; nothing that 
balanced itself, that made the least rustling, that 
made a sound in the heaven. There was nothing 
that stood up ; nothing but the quiet water, but the 
sea, calm and alone in its boundaries ; nothing 
existed ; nothing but immobility and silence, in the 
darkness, in the night." 

After the creation of the vegetables and lower 
animal life the narration continues : 

" Again the gods took counsel together ; they de- 
termined to make man. So they made a man of 
clay, and when they had made him they saw that it 
was not good. He was without cohesion, without 
consistence, motionless, strengthless, inept, watery ; 
he could not move his head, his face looked but one 
way ; his sight was restricted, he could not look be- 
hind him ; he had been endowed with language, but he 
had no intelligence, so he was consumed in the water. 



Prehtstoric Mexicans. 97 

" Again is there counsel in heaven : ' let us 
make an intelligent being who shall adore and 
invoke us.' It was decided that a man should be 
made of wood and a woman of a kind of pith. 
They were made ; but the result was in no way sat- 
isfactory. They moved about perfectly well, it is 
true; they increased and multiplied; they peopled 
the world with sons and daughters, little wooden 
manikins like themselves ; but still the heart and 
the intelligence were wanting ; they held no memory 
of their Maker and Former; they lived a useless 
existence ; they jived as the beasts live ; they for- 
got the Heart of Heaven. They were but an essay, 
an attempt at men ; they had neither blood, nor 
substance, nor moisture, nor fat ; their cheeks were 
shriveled, their feet and hands dried up ; their flesh 
languished. 

''Then was the Heart of Heaven wroth, and he 
sent ruin and destruction upon those ingrates; he 
rained upon them night and day from heaven with 
a thick resin, and the earth was darkened. And 
the men went mad with terror ; they tried to mount 
upon the roofs, and the houses fell ; they tried to 
climb the trees, and the trees shook them far from 
their branches ; they tried to hide In the caves and 
the dens of the earth, but these closed their holes 
against them. The bird Xecotcovach came to tear 



98 Sketches of Mexico. 

out their eyes, and the Camalotz cut off their head, 
and the Cotzbalam devoured their flesh, and the 
Tecumbalam broke and bruised their bones to pow- 
der. Thus were they all devoted to chastisement 
and destruction, save only a few who were preserved 
as memorials of the wooden men that had been ; 
and these now exist in the woods as little apes. 

** Once more are the gods in council ; in the dark- 
ness, in the night of a desolated universe, do they 
commune together ; ' Of what shall we make man ? ' 
And the Creator and Former made four perfect 
men, and wholly of yellow and white maize (corn) 
was their flesh composed. These were the names 
of the four men that were made : the name of the 
first was Balam-Quitze ; of the second, Balam-Agab ; 
of the third, Mahucutah ; and of the fourth, Iqi-Ba- 
1am. They had neither father nor mother, neither 
were they made by the ordinary agents in the work of 
creation ; but their coming into existence was a mira- 
cle extraordinary, wrought by the special interven- 
tion of Him who is preeminently the Creator. Veri- 
\y, at last, were there found men worthy of their origin 
and their destiny ; verily, at last, did the gods look 
on beings who could see with their eyes, and handle 
with their hands, and understand with their hearts. 
Grand of countenance and broad of limb, the four 
sires of our race stood up under the white rays of 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 99 

the morning star — sole light as yet of the primeval 
world — stood up and looked. Their great clear 
eyes swept rapidly over all ; they saw the woods 
and the rocks, the lakes and the sea, the mountains 
and the valleys, and the heavens that were above 
all ; and they comprehended all and admired ex- 
ceedingly. Then they returned thanks to those 
who had made the world and all that therein was : 
* We offer up our thanks, twice — yea, verily, thrice. 
We have received life ; we speak, we walk, we taste ; 
we hear and understand ; we know both that which 
is near and that which is far off; we see all things, 
great and small, and in all the heaven and earth. 
Thanks, then. Maker and Former, Father and Moth- 
er of our life ! We have been created ; we are.' 

" But the gods were not wholly pleased with this 
thing; heaven, they thought, had overshot its 
mark ; these men were too perfect ; knew, under- 
stood, and saw too much. Therefore there was 
counsel again in heaven : ' What shall we do with 
man now? It is not good, this that we see ; these 
are as gods ; they would make themselves equal 
with us ; lo, they know all things, great and small. 
Let us now contract their sight, so that they may 
see only a little of the surface of the earth and be 
content.' Thereupon the Heart of Heaven breathed 
a cloud over the pupil of the eyes of men, and a 



loo Sketches of Mexico. 

veil came over it as when one breathes on the face 
of a mirror. Thus was the globe of the eye dark- 
ened ; neither was that which was far off clear to it 
any more, but only that which was near. 

"Then the four men slept, and there was counsel 
in heaven ; and four women were made. To Balam- 
Quitze was allotted Caha-Paluma to wife ; to Balam- 
Agab, Chomiha; to Mahucutah, Tzununiha; and to 
Iqi-Balam, Cakixaha. Now the women were ex- 
ceedingly fair to look upon ; and when the men 
awoke their hearts were glad because of the 
women. 

" They had as yet no worship save the breathing 
of the instinct of their soul, as yet no altars to the 
gods ; only — and is there not a whole idyl in the 
simple words? — only they gazed up into heaven, 
not knowing what they had come so far to do I 
They were filled with love, with obedience, and 
with fear ; and lifting their eyes toward heaven 
they made their requests " — in the following lan- 
guage, part of which might have been used by 
King David himself: 

*' Hail ! O Creator, O Former! thou that hcarest 
and understandest us! abandon us not, forsake us 
not ! O God, thou that art in heaven and on the earth, 
O Heart of Heaven, O Heart of Earth! give us 
descendants and a posterity as long as the light 



Prehistoric Mexicans. ioi 

endure. Give us to walk always in an open road, 
in a path without snares ; to lead happy, quiet, and 
peaceable lives, free of all reproach." It was thus 
they spake, living tranquilly, invoking the return 
of the light, waiting the rising of the sun, watching 
the star of the morning, precursor of the sun. 

The account of their migrations which follows is 
so confused as to make it improbable that the loca- 
tions named should be fully identified. But it is 
clear that in their original home they became weary 
of watching for the rising sun, that is, the coming 
of temporal power. Then it was the four men 
started on their journey to Tulanzuiva, the seven 
caves or ravines. On their arrival a different deity 
was assigned to each. Henceforward their worship 
is more material and ceremonial. 

Tulan was found to have a colder climate than 
their eastern home, and the god Tohil created arti- 
ficial heat. '' But incessant rains, accompanied with 
hail, extinguished all their fires, which were again 
rekindled repeatedly by the fire god." But Tulan, 
with its rains, extreme cold, dampness, and famines, 
followed by the confusion of tongues, proved an un- 
favorable locality for their permanent abode. So 
at last this mysterious land of the seven caves, this 
Tulan, was abandoned, and under the leadership of 

Tohil they migrated through dense forests, over 
8 



I02 Sketches of Mexico. 

high mountains, through a long sea, which parted 
at their coming, and by a rough and pebbly shore, 
till at last, their tribulations ended, they reached 
the beautiful Hacavitz — a mountain named after 
their god. 

" Here they were informed that the sun would 
appear, and as a consequence the four progenitors 
of the race and all the people rejoiced. Here was 
everything beauteous and gladdening. The morn- 
ing star shed forth a resplendent brightness, and the 
sun itself at last appeared, though then it had not 
the warmth which it possessed at a later day. Be- 
fore the light of the sun, however, the gods of Tohil, 
Avilix, and Hacavitz, together with the tigers and 
lions and reptiles, were changed into stone." 

To interpret this paragraph, which is greatly con- 
densed, is a difficult undertaking ; still, there are 
certain facts which seem to serve as the basis of in- 
telligent speculation. The language is extremely 
figurative throughout the narrative, and especially so 
here. Their worship of the morning star at an 
early period seems to connect them with the Medi- 
terranean people of the Old World. The allusions 
to the sun not yet having come may be retrospec- 
tive, indicating that the worship of the sun had not 
been adopted at that early date, or it may indicate 
that the period of national strength had not dawned. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 103 

The fact that the morning star shone more bril- 
liantly on Mount Hacavitz than at Tulan (the seven 
caves) may mean either that the worship of the star 
was more specially celebrated, or it may have refer- 
ence to an astronomical fact, that the star itself was 
more luminous, and furnish evidence in harmony 
with the statements of the narrative that Mount 
Hacavitz was a more southern location than the 
tempestuous Tulan. 

The petrifaction of the three tribal gods may 
have been the result of an age of peace and pros- 
perity which offered an opportunity for developing 
their cultus ; or, upon the other hand, if the coming 
of the sun refers to the advent of a new religion, that 
which is known to have prevailed among the Nahuas, 
the old gods may have been sculptured in stone, that 
their national character and deeds might not be for- 
gotten before the increasing importance of the new 
faith. There they instituted sacrifices of beasts to 
the three stone gods Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz ; 
they even drew blood from their own bodies and 
offered it to them. 

" Finally, not content with these, the first four men, 
led by Balam-Quitze, instituted human sacrifices. 
Captives were taken from native tribes, kidnapping 
was practiced extensively, until the hostility of 
their neighbors broke forth into open war. The 



104 Sketches of Mexico. 

contest, however, resulted favorably to the Quiches, 
and the surrounding tribes became subject to the 
victorious power. In Hacavitz they composed a 
national song called the Kamucu (We see), a memo- 
rial of their misfortunes in Tulan — a lament for the 
loss of so many of their people in that unfortunate 
locality. This loss is described as occasioned by a 
portion of their race being left behind, rather than 
as the result of t'he misfortunes which attended 
them there. At last, at the noonday of their 
national glory, it came to pass that the ancestors 
of their race, Balam-Ouitze, died — the men who 
came from the East, from across the sea, died — and 
their remains were enveloped in a great bundle and 
preserved as memorials of the ancestors of the race. 
Then the Quiches sang the sad Kamucu, and 
mourned the loss of their leaders and that por- 
tion of their race which they left behind them in 
Tulan." 

The exact location of Tulan is a subject of dis- 
pute among historians. Four different places with 
this same name are certainly mentioned in Popol 
Vtih, two across the sea and two on this continent. 
Orozco y Barra is doubtless right in locating one at 
about fifty miles north of the present capital of Mex- 
ico, and which place in these times is called Tula, a 
place, by the way, where fire is still needed, and 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 105 

which corresponds in other respects to the descrip- 
tion of Tolan in the ancient National Book. 

The other and later Tolan was doubtless in the 
State of Chiapas, near the ancient city of Xibalba. 
In the Tolan north of Anahuac (what is now Mex- 
ico's national capital) the Maya-Quiches doubtless 
mingled with the Nahuas, and after appropriating 
certain elements of their language, worship, and 
other customs, migrated southward again and estab- 
lished the Quiche-Cakchiquel monarchy in Guate- 
mala about the eleventh century. Colonies spread 
further south into various parts of Central America, 
where remnants of their people and evidences of 
their former glory are found to this day. 

The purely Maya branch of the family are found 
in considerable numbers in the State of Yucatan, 
and are the admiration of all travelers, their cleanli- 
ness, their intelligence and quiet habits being 
marked characteristics of the race. Yet in time of 
war they are remarkably brave and heroic. This 
last characteristic certainly gives color to the claim 
made by some writers concerning what they are 
pleased to call an heroic period in the history of the 
Mayas, a period which occupies the same place 
in their history as the Trojan war does in the history 
of Greece. " The tradition of the fall of Xibalba, 
the terror of its neighbors, the power which by its 



io6 Sketches of Mexico. 

enemies was called infernal, is an heroic composi- 
tion founded on a combination of events as mysteri- 
ous and wonderful as those contained in the ' Iliad ' 
itself. To locate the events in their proper place, 
to assign them their true period, is attended with 
as many difficulties as attend the Homeric history." 

We have given more space to this Maya race 
than we intend to give to any other, and for various 
reasons. First, it is the earliest race with anything 
like a record on the continent, and we believe that 
all Americanists will give more attention to this 
cradle of American civihzation in the future than 
they have in the past. 

Max Miiller well says, ^' The Usumacintas seem a 
kind of central point for the high culture of Central 
America ; "* and the famous explorer Charnay adds, 
" Palenque will probably some day decide the ques- 
tion of American civilization. It only awaits a 
ChampoUion." 

We, the possessors of a higher and purer civiliza- 
tion — of a Christian civilization — cannot afford to 
be entirely indifferent to their past, especially since 
we are trying to lead the descendants of this noble 
though oppressed race " from darkness to light." 
For all the promising work now carried on by the 
evangelical Churches south of the Rio Grande 
* Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 456. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 107 

none is so full of hope as work among these and 
other indigenous races. 

We now come to another chapter of legendary 
history which is difficult to treat, difficult because 
so misty. We refer to the races occupying the cen- 
tral and northern part of the country in pre-Toltec 
times. These are generally known as the Nahua 
nations, and divided into at least eight families. 
Bancroft arranges them as follows : Quinames, Ol- 
mecs, Xicalancas, Totonacs, Huastecs, Miztecs, 
Zapotecs, and Otomis. Sefior Orozco y Barra says 
that the Cuicatecs, Triquis, Chiniantecs, Mazatecs, 
Chatinos, Papabucos, Soltecos, Chontales, and 
Cohuicas belong to the same times. Prichard, in his 
Natural History of Man (vol. ii, p. 512), adds the 
Coras, Tepanecs, and Tarascos. The Codices Vati- 
canus and Tellerianus give the names as follows : 
Olmecs, Xicalancas, Chichimecs, Nonohualcas, Mi- 
chinacas, Conixcas, Totonacs, and Cuextecas. 

In the light of the most recent investigation none 
of these lists .is entirely satisfactory. Doubtless 
different names have been given to the same tribe, 
and in some cases the names simply refer to fami- 
lies of one and the same nation. We cannot pre- 
tend to " be wise above another " in the matter, and 
can only follow our humble judgment in a case 
which seems to us to require more light from honest 



To8 Sketches of Mexico. 

and learned investigators before one can speak with 
any degree of certainty. 

The chief authority for this uncertain history is 
the Codex Chimalpopoca. It is an anonymous rec- 
ord written in Aztec, but with Spanish letters, 
copied by Ixtlilxochitl, and belonged to the famous 
Boturini collection. Even this has never beqn pub- 
lished, and is only known by occasional references 
to it contained in the works of Brasseur de Bour- 
bourg. From the abbe we quote the following : 

'' This is the beginning of the history of things 
which came to pass long ago, of the division of 
the earth, the property of all, the origin and its 
foundation, as well as the manner in which the sun 
divided it six times four hundred plus one hundred 
plus thirteen years ago to-day, the twenty-second of 
May, 1558 ;" '^ that is, 955 B.C., a date accepted by 
most Spanish and Mexican authors, and, strangely 
enough, it corresponds exactly with the date ad- 
mitted by Dr. J. W. Foster in his Prehistoric Races, f 

In the list of pre-Toltec nations above mentioned 
the Quinames come first, and are generally called 
giants, the' name signifying men of great stature. 
They are traditionally assigned as the first inhabit- 
ants of nearly every part of the country. Torque- 
mada and Veytia reject the idea that a race of giants 

* Bancroft's Native Races^ vol. v, p. 193. \ P. 342. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 109 

actually existed, but Duran gives it as a fact. Clavi- 
gero says : " Nor can we be persuaded that there 
has ever been, as those writers imagined, a whole 
nation of giants, but only single individuals."* In 
the National Museum of Mexico may be seen a 
skeleton found on the gulf coast, and said to be that 
of Negro Quiname, which stands over seven feet 
high. Several other facts are quoted as evidence 
that these giants were probably Negroes. Among 
the great variety of idols frequently discovered in 
excavations now going on at Teotihuacan many 
are found representing African features, the large 
nose and thick lips being especially noticeable. In 
i860, in the Hacienda de Hueyapan, State of Vera 
Cruz, workmen accidentally unearthed a gigantic 
head of granite nearly five feet high and of corre- 
sponding proportions. The features are clearly 
Ethiopian, Later a great stone hatchet was found 
with a face carved on the handle also containing 
Ethiopian features. It is easy to believe that both 
of these may have been buried three thousand 
years. The Negroes may have been one or sepa- 
rate races, or perhaps, as Chavero says, the former 
were like '' a passing bird " pushed on to the coast 
by the superior numbers of the latter or, possibly, 
in quest of a warmer climate. 

* Vol. i, p. III. 



no Sketches of Mexico, 

Oviedo and Mendoza say that the giants came 
from the Strait of Magellan, and Boturini could give 
no reason for doubting their existence. * " Being 
large in stature, they could out-travel the rest of 
mankind, and thus became naturally the first set- 
tlers of distant parts of the world." They were de- 
stroyed in the first or second century of our era. 
Whether giants or not, they were a barbarous race, 
living like brutes of the field, ^' addicted to the most 
disgusting vices," especially drunkenness to excess. 
Ixtlilxochitl says that they were exterminated by a 
great convulsion of nature ; but Father Duran says 
that all the males were destroyed by the Tlascalte- 
cas during a great banquet prepared for the purpose 
in 107 A. D. As some regard the Olmecs an off- 
shoot of the Mayas it may be that " we have here 
a figurative allusion, from a Nahua standpoint, to 
the fall of the Xibalban power itself — the New 
World Babylon, which, like the old, may have met 
its fate during a drunken revel." 

About the time that the Quinames were destroyed 
the Pyramid of Cholula was built, under the direction 
of a chief called Xelhua. Its origin is said to have 
been connected in some way with a flood, but 
authorities are not agreed as to whether it was 
built as a memorial in honor of the builders' salva- 

^ N^aiive Races, vol. v, p. 199. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. hi 

tion from a former flood, or as a place of refuge 
from another that might come. Boturini and most 
Spanish writers connect it with the Tower of Babel, 
claiming that the ancestors of the Olmecs were 
present on the occasion, and they also say that 
work on the Cholula tower was stopped by fire sent 
from heaven. It is true that the Toltecs had a del- 
uge tradition of a general and devastating flood, 
possibly the scriptural one. 

Lord Kingsborough seems to imply that Xelhua 
was one of those who escaped Avith Noah in the 
ark, and from the plain of Shinar led a colony to 
the New World. This would certainly put the 
building of Cholula much earlier than is generally 
claimed, or make Xelhuaabout one thousand yearsold 
when he began theconstruction of the Mexican tower. 

Father Duran, however, gives a different and to 
us more reasonable cause for the building of the 
Cholula pyramid, for we have never been able to 
see why the natives would build a tower to escape 
a possible flood on the very foothills of " snow 
capped mountains which kiss the firmament." 
Father Duran, who wrote soon after the Spanish 
Conquest, says that he found at Cholula a native 
one hundred years old, '' bent with age," but well 
informed as to its history. From him Duran took 
down the following story : 



112 Sketches of Mexico. 

" In the beginning, before the Hght of the sun 
had been created, this land was in obscurity and 
darkness and void of any created thing ; all was a 
plain without hill or elevation, encircled in every 
part by water, without tree or created thing ; and 
immediately after the light and the sun arose in the 
east there appeared gigantic men of deformed 
stature and possessed the land, who, desiring to see 
the nativity of the sun as well as his Occident, pro- 
posed to go and seek them. Dividing themselves 
into two parties, some journeyed toward the west and 
others toward the east ; these traveled until the sea 
cut off their road, whereupon they determined to 
return to the place from which they started, and 
arriving at this place, which was called Iztacculin, 
ineminian (Cholula), not finding the means of reach- 
ing the sun, enamored of his light and beauty, they 
determined to build a tower so high that its sum- 
mit should reach the sky. Having collected mate- 
rial for the purpose, they found a very adhesive clay 
and bitumen, with which they speedily commenced 
to build the tower, and having reared it to the 
greatest possible altitude, so that they say it 
reached to the sky, the Lord of the heavens, en- 
raged, said to the inhabitants of the sky, ' Have 
you observed how they of the earth have built a 
high and haughty tower to mount hither, being 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 113 

enamored of the light of the sun and his beauty ? 
Come and confound them ; because it is not right 
that they of the earth, Hving in the flesli, should 
mingle with us.' Immediately, at that very instant, 
the inhabitants of the sky sallied forth like flashes 
of lightning ; they destroyed the edifice ^nd di- 
vided and scattered its builders to all parts of the 
earth." * 

Here, then, in this most ancient of records we 
find no reference whatever to a flood, but rather a 
confirmation of the supposed tendency of Ameri- 
cans all over the continent, including those of the 
Mississippi valley, perhaps, to erect mounds and 
truncated pyramids for the purpose of worshiping 
the sun. That these mounds were regarded as 
sacred is further proven by the fact that recently in 
the construction of a railway across the corner of 
the pyramid under consideration the workmen 
found an ancient sepulcher, and took out two petri- 
fied human skeletons. Similar proofs have been 
discovered at Teotihuacan. 

After the Quinames came the Olmecs and the 
Xicalancas, named after their first rulers, Olmecatl 
and Xicalancatl. These are sometimes represented 
as two nations, but both using the-Toltec language, 
though settled in Anahuac long before the estab- 

* Duran, vol. i, p. 6. 



114 Sketches of Mexico. 

lishment of the Toltec empire in Tula. While as 
nations they lost their identity before the coming 
of Cortez, yet under new names and other family 
combinations they were still living in Puebla, 
southern Vera Cruz, Chiapas, and Tabasco at the 
time pf the conquest. They are generally con- 
sidered as the first of the Nahua nations in central 
Mexico, and tradition on the Campeche coast says 
that they came there in ships from the east, and 
afterward migrated both north and south. A cape 
in the State of Campeche still bears the name of 
Xicolanco. They were an industrious and quiet 
people, being especially devoted to agriculture. 

It is also claimed that the Olmecs built the fa- 
mous Palenque, the oldest city on the American 
continent,"^ but now one of the grandest of Mexican 
ruins. Of it the modern poet has written : 

" Unlike Copan, yet buried, too, 'mid trees 

Upspringing there for sumless centuries, 

Behold a royal city, vast and lone, 

Lost to each race, to all the world unknown, 

Like famed Pompeii, 'neath her lava bed, 

Till chance unveiled the City of the Dead. 

Palenque ! seat of kings ! as o'er the plain, 

Clothed with thick copse, the traveler toils with pain, 

Climbs the rude mound the shadowy scene to trace. 

He views in mute surprise thy desert grace. 

At every step some palace meets his eye. 

Some figure frowns, some temple courts the sky. 

* Native J\accs, vol. v, p. 202. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 115 

It seems as if that hour the verdurous earth, 
By genii struck, had given their fabrics birth. 
Save that old Time hath flung his darkening pall 
On each tree-shaded tower and pictured wall." 

This ruined city, with all its beautiful and mys- 
terious surroundings, was unknown to the outside 
world till 1750. In 1787 the ancient ruins were ex- 
plored by order of the King of Spain, and again in 
1807 by a like order. Since then several other 
European and a few American travelers have visited 
and described this enchanting spot ; and the valu- 
able works of Galindo, Dupaix, Waldeck, Stephens, 
Charnay, Squire, and Ober furnish as interesting 
reading as the student of history could desire. 

From all these we learn that where once existed 
the metropolis of a mighty empire in the beauti- 
ful valley of Usumacinta, only ruins now exist, 
ruins which have given rise to almost as many 
theories as there have been investigators. All, 
however, seem to unite in this conviction, that this 
region was the capital of an ancient theocratic em- 
pire of vast in-fluence. 

On the moss-covered walls of the ruins are sculp- 
tures which fain would '' speak to us in an unknown 
language, hieroglyphics, and the chiseled types of a 
people long since departed." In what is known in 
modern times as '* Casa Number Two " is a portion 
of a* famous sculpture known as the '' Palenque Tab- 



ii6 Sketches of Mexico. 

let," containing the figure of a. cross about which 
archaeolgists have wrangled, and bitterly. In 1842 
a portion of it was sent to the National Museum at 
Washington. A third part is supposed to be buried 
somewhere about the ruins. Notwithstanding these 
unfavorable circumstances Professor Charles Rau, 
of the Smithsonian Institution, through most diligent 
labor, has produced a restoration of the sculpture 
as it probably appeared in the " Sanctuary of the 
Cross" in Palenque. Mr. Stephens has thus de- 
scribed it : 

** The principal subject of this tablet is the cross. 
It is surmounted by a strange bird and loaded with 
indescribable ornaments. The two figures are evi- 
dently those of important personages. They are 
well drawn, and in symmetry of proportion are per- 
haps equal to many that are carved on the walls of 
the temples of Egypt. . . . Both are looking toward 
the cross, and one seems in the act of making an of- 
fering, perhaps of a child. All speculations on the 
subject are, of course, entitled to a little regard ; but 
perhaps it would not be wrong to ascribe to these 
personages a sacerdotal character. The hieroglyph- 
ics, doubtless, explain all. Near them are other hier- 
oglyphics, which remind us of the Egyptian mode 
for recording the name, history, office, or character 
of the persons represented. This tablet of the (!ross 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 117 

has given rise to more learned speculation than 
perhaps any others found at Palenque." 

How or when the first symbol of the cross was in- 
troduced into America is an interesting though per- 
haps unsatisfactory study. That part, at least, is 
interesting which claims that one of the twelve 
apostles brought it here, and fourteen or fifteen 
centuries before Cortez built his first Christian 
church in Tlaxcala this same apostle preached the 
Gospel to the descendants of the Olmecs on the 
very ground where these ruins are now found. 

The hero of General Lew Wallace's Fair God in 
Nahua history goes by the name of Quetzalcoatl. 
Among the Quiches his name was Gucumatz, and 
among the Mayas, Cukulcan, which, singularly 
enough, means the same in each language, namely, 
^' plumed serpent." The first named was no tribal 
hero, but belonged to the entire Nahua race, and 
some believe that he was called " feathered or 
plumed serpent," after the brazen serpent which 
Moses lifted up in the wilderness. *' Representa- 
tions of the lifting up of serpents frequently occur in 
Mexican paintings."* Not only so, but the plagues 
which Moses called down upon the Egyptians by 
lifting up his rod, which became a serpent, are re- 
ferred to in some of the pictures found in the Bor- 

^ Nalive Races, vol. v, p. 87. 



ii8 Sketches of Mexico. 

gian manuscripts. The name Quetzalcoatl seems 
to have been applied to the leader or culture hero 
of the people during hundreds of years of Nahua. 
At least two different personages bore that name. 

About the time that the Olmecs were in the 
height of their power a man named Quetzalcoatl 
appeared in the country, " a venerable, just, and 
holy man, who taught by precept and example the 
paths of virtue in all the Nahua cities." 

Garcia, Torquemada, Sahagun, and other Spanish 
writers firmly believed him to be identical with 
St. Thomas, one of the apostles, and repeatedly 
mentioned him as the first man to preach the Gos- 
pel in all America. We cannot see why this tradi- 
tion is any less groundless than the one which takes 
St. Thomas to East India, as published in our 
own cyclopedias.* Of this Carlos de Siguenza and 
Luis Becerra Tanco, in Felicidad de Mexico (p. 55), 
say that the hero's proper name, Topiltzni Quetzal- 
coatl, " closely resembles in sound and signification 
that of Thomas, surnamed Didymus; for Toy in the 
Mexican name, is an abbreviation of Tomas, to 
which Pilcifty meaning son or disciple, is added ; 
while the meaning of Quetzalcoatl is exactly the 
same as that of the Greek name Didymus, a 
twin, being compounded of Quetzalli, a plume of 
* See McClintock & Strong, vol, x, p. 368. 



Prehistoric Mexicans. 119 

green feathers, metaphorically signifying anything 
precious, and coatl^ a serpent, metaphorically mean- 
ing one of two twins." 

Boturini says that he had " certain historical 
memoranda by the glorious apostle St. Thomas." 
He also cites paintings of crosses found by him in 
southern Mexico and other evidences of the ** tracks 
of his holy feet in many parts of New Spain." Of 
this man or another bearing the same name we 
shall have more to say in our next lecture. After 
Quetzalcoatl's mysterious disappearance nothing 
more is known of Olmec and Xicalanca history till 
the establishment of the Toltec empire, when they 
are still in possession of Puebla and Tlaxcala. 

The Totonacs were also pre-Toltec in history. 
They migrated from the valley of Mexico and claim 
to have built the pyramids of Teotihuacan, a great 
religious center in primitive times, of which we will 
speak later. 

The Otomis, another primitive race, differ in lan- 
guage from all Nahua nations, though with a slight 
affinity with the Totonacs, '' and have always been 
to a certain extent an outcast and oppressed race, 
* the Jews of Anahuac,' trodden down in succession 
by Toltec, Chichimec, and Aztec." When the Tol- 
tec empire was established they possessed much 
territory of Anahuac. 



I20 Sketches of Mexico. 

Of the early history of the Miztecs, Zapotecs, 
Huastecs, and other pre-Toltec nations but little is 
known which would be of interest here. This 
brings us to the consideration of the more regular 
and less mythical annals of one of the most enchant- 
ing histories in the whole world, and all upon our 
own continent. 



LECTURE IV. 



EARLY MEXICANS AND THEIR HISTORY, 



LECTURE IV. 
THE EARLY MEXICANS AND THEIR HISTORY. 

^'y^^NE hundred and sixteen years after wise 
V^^ Toltecs, astrologers, and those of other arts 
had assembled in Huehue Tlapallan for the purpose 
of regulating their calendar, the sun and moon 
were eclipsed, the earth shook and the rocks were 
rent asunder, and many other things and signs hap- 
pened, though there was no loss of life. This was 
the year Ce Calli, which, the chronology being re- 
duced to our systems, proves to be the same date 
when Christ our Lord suffered." Thus does Ixtlil- 
xochitl, Mexico's best primitive historian, intro- 
duce us to the Toltecs. 

It will be of interest first to locate the meeting 
place of this famous convocation, which occurred 
about 2000 B.C., after one hundred and four years of 
wandering over land and sea, during which time 
the ancient Mexicans suffered great hardships. 

The etymology of the word Huehue Tlapallan is 
** ancient red land or land of color." '^Astrology, 
soothsaying, the interpretation of dreams and of 
auguries, such as the flight or song of birds, the 



124 Sketches of Mexico. 

sudden meeting of wild animals, or the occurrence 
of other unlooked-for events, were regarded by the 
Nahuas as of the greatest importance, and the 
practice of such arts was intrusted to the tonal- 
potihqtti, ' those who count by the sun,' a class of 
men held in high esteem, to whom was attributed a 
perfect knowledge of future events. We have seen 
that no undertaking, public or private, of any im- 
portance could be engaged in except under a suit- 
able and propitious sign, and to determine this 
sign the tonalpouhqui was appealed to. The science 
of astrology was written down in books kept with 
great secrecy and mystery, altogether unintelligible 
to the common crowd, whose good or bad fortune 
was therein supposed to be painted. The details 
of the methods employed in the mysterious rites of 
divination are nowhere recorded."* 

Most historians agree that these ancestors of the 
Toltecs came from the distant East in seven barks 
or ships, which Sahagun calls Chicomoztoc, or the 
seven grottoes. In all ages the number seven has 
been a sacred number among American peoples. It 
may be well, before passing, to remark that per- 
chance these seven ships, or grottoes, are '' the 
seven caves" so often referred to in primitive Mex- 
ican history. The starting point was doubtless 

* Native Races, vol. ii, p. 500. 



Early Mexicans and their History. iz5 

some part of Asia and, perhaps, '* a plain in the 
land of Shinar " (Gen. xi, 2). The resting place, 
which they called Huehue Tlapallan, and which 
they ''found fertile and desirable to dwell in," ac- 
cording to Professor Short, was in the valley of the 
Mississippi.. Mr. Bancroft advocates a southern 
locality, possibly Honduras. Sahagun thinks it 
was Florida. Humboldt cites the River Giles in 
New Mexico, while others place it somewhere on 
the coast of the Californian Gulf, but, with very 
few exceptions, Spanish and Mexican historians, in- 
cluding Clavigero and Veytia, unite in locating it 
north of Anahuac. 

On coming from the land where the sun rises to 
their new home, " which they found to be fertile 
and desirable to dwell in, . . . the supreme com- 
mand was in the hand of a chieftain whom his- 
tory calls Quetzalcohuatli, that is to say, lord par 
excellence. To his care was confided the holy en- 
velope which concealed the divinity from the 
human gaze, and he alone received from it the 
necessary instructions to guide his people's march. 
These kinds of divinities, thus enveloped, passed 
for being sure talismans, and were looked upon 
with the greatest respect and veneration. They 
consisted generally of a bit of wood, in which was 
inserted a little idol of green stone ; this was 



126 Sketches of Mexico. 

covered with the skin of a serpent or of a tiger, 
after which it was rolled in numerous little bands 
of stuff, wherein it would remain wrapped for 
centuries together. Such is, perhaps, the origin of 
the medicine bags made use of even in the present 
day by the Indians of the Great Desert." * 

It is not unlikely that the Nahuas, on first reaching 
our northwest coast, were few in number, and that 
they remained there for generations till they became 
a nation of no mean proportions. After crossing 
the watershed between the sources of the Columbia 
and Missouri rivers part wended their way to the 
Mississippi valley, where their empire continued to 
spread with the passing ages ; while another part 
made their way into Utah, where we may to-day 
see their remains in the cliff dwellings of the San 
Juan valley and the many ruins of Aztec springs.f 

The first Nahuas to reach Mexico probably came 
by ships from the direction of Florida, landed at 
the mouth of the beautiful broad Panuco (Mexico's 
Mississippi), and migrated southward till they came 
into touch with the older and riper civilization of 
the Mayas. The Toltecs probably came by land, 
and from the distant north. The Chichimecs, their 
old neighbors in Huehue Tlapallan, followed them 

* Native Races ^ vol. iii, p. 270. 

\ North A^nericans of Antiquity, p. 517. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 127 

and adopted their language. The Nahuatlacas ar- 
rived centuries later, and finally the Aztecs reached 
Anahuac some four hundred years before the Span- 
ish conquest. 

Having treated the Maya question in our former 
lecture, we will take up the others in chronological 
order. 

This leads us first to mention the Toltecs. After 
long centuries of peace and prosperity in *' the red 
land," Chalcatzin and Tlacamilitzin, chiefs in the 
royal line, rebelled against the legitimate successor 
to the throne. After a war of eight years, with their 
numerous families and allies they were driven out 
of the country. They settled in Tlapallancoco, the 
little, or New Tlapallan. Among those who joined 
the fortunes of the insurgents were five other chiefs, 
with their respective tribes. Their departure, ac- 
cording to Chavero, took place in the year 583 
A. D., though Clavigero claims it was in 544. After 
remaining three years in Tlapallancoco the seven 
chiefs held a council to determine whether they 
should make that their permanent capital or should 
move further on.* " Then arose a great astrologer 
named Hueman, or Huematzin, saying that accord- 
ing to their histories they had suffered great perse- 
cutions from heaven, but that these had always been 

* Native Races, vol. v, p. 21 1. 



128 Sketches of Mexico. 

followed by great prosperity ; that their persecu- 
tions had always occurred in the year Ce Tecpatl ; 
but that year once passed great blessings ensued ; 
that their trouble was a great evil immediately pre- 
ceding the dawn of a greater good, and conse- 
quently it did not behoove them to remain so near 
their enemies. Moreover, his astrology had taught 
him that toward the rising sun there was a broad 
and happy land, where the Quinames had lived for 
many years ; but so long a time had now passed 
since their destruction that .the country was depop- 
ulated ; besides, the fierce Chichimecs, their neigh- 
bors, rarely penetrated those regions. . . . These 
and other things did Hueman counsel, and they 
seemed good to the seven chiefs ; so that after three 
years were passed, or eleven years from the time 
when they left Huehue Tlapallan, they started on 
their migration." 

After twelve days they reached Hueyxalan, 
seventy leagues, and remained there for four years. 
Pushing on they traveled one hundred leagues more 
and came to Jalisco, the heart of the country. In 
this place they remained eight years. Subsequently 
they made eleven other marches, covering, in all, 
one thousand two hundred and twenty-four leagues, 
made in one hundred and seventy-eight days. But 
as they tarried from five to twenty-six years in 



Early Mexicans and their History. 129 

each place they finally reached Tollan, or Tula, one 
hundred and nineteen years after leaving their orig- 
inal habitat. This last-named place, about thirty 
miles to the north of the modern capital of the 
country, became the center of the wonderful Toltec 
empire, an empire which had great influence on 
subsequent Mexican history. 

Their government during the journey was theo- 
cratic and their religion theistic. They had mili- 
tary chiefs, but God was their great commander, • 
and they relied on Hueman, their chief priest, to 
.know God's will. 

Mexican historians find here an interesting paral- 
lel with the experiences of the Hebrews, who also 
made comparatively short marches, were always in- 
fluenced by religious considerations, and were ever 
subject to sacerdotal command. One of their most 
noted living writers says that *' the Israelites would 
never have reached the land of promise if Moses 
had been a warrior and not a hierarch." The un- 
written history of Toltec migrations would doubt- 
less disclose many a triumph of diplomacy as well 
as of armed aggression. 

The exact date of the founding of the Toltec 
empire in Tollan (Tula), as well as the names of its 
first kings, have been matters of lively discussion 
among European and American authors. Most of 



130 Sketches of Mexico. 

these, so frequently quoted during these lectures, have 
imitated the ancient Mexican historian Ixtlilxochitl. 
Late research, no doubt, gives more accurate infor- 
mation. The Anales de Ciiauhtitlan, though origi- 
nally published in the Mexican language between 
the years of 1563 and 1570, and preserved for long 
years in the Jesuit College of San Gregorio, were 
recently translated by Faustino Galicia Chimalpo- 
poca and corrected by Messrs. Ramirez, Mendoza> 
and Sanchez Solis, all eminent Indian scholars who 
were within late years connected with the National 
Museum of Mexico. The result of the united study 
of these most distinguished archaeologists is that 
Tula was first occupied by the Toltecs in the year 
Ce Tochtli, that is, the year 674 of the Christian era. 
For twenty-six years they were under the command 
of their rebel princes Chalcaltzin and Tlacamihtzin. 
Then their first king, Mixcoamazatzin, was chosen. 
He reigned from 700 to 765, and, after him, ten 
other monarchs, down to the second Ouetzalcoatl, 
who reigned from 1048 to 1 1 16, when the empire 
was overthrown and Tula destroyed. This covers a 
period of four hundred and forty-two years. 

It seems that the great high priest or astrologer, 
Hueman, either lived about three hundred years or 
had successors who carried his name and profession 
through three centuries, for we find that during the 



Early Mexicans and their History. 131 

reign of Ixtlilcuechahuac, second king of the empire, 
" the aged Hueman assembled " all the wise men 
to join him in his final work on earth.* ''At this 
assembly there were brought forward all the Toltec 
records, reaching back to the earliest period of their 
existence, and from these documents, after a long con- 
ference and the most careful study, the Tcoamoxtliy 
or ' book of God,' was prepared, that is, painted. 
In its pages were inscribed the Nahua annals from 
the time of the deluge, or even from the creation, 
together with all their religious rites, governmental 
system, laws, and social customs ; their knowledge 
respecting agriculture and all the arts and sciences, 
particular attention being given to astrology, and 
a complete explanation of their modes of reckoning 
time and interpreting the hieroglyphics. To the 
divine book was added a chapter of prophecies re- 
specting future events and the signs by which it 
should be known when the time of their fulfillment 
was drawing near." 

Let us here quote the testimony of Clavigero : f 

" The Toltecs were the most celebrated people of 

Anahuac for their superior civilization and skill in 

arts, whence, in after ages, it has been common to 

distinguish the most remarkable artists in an hon- 

* Native Races, vol. v, p. 251, and Clavigero, vol. i, p. 115. 
f Clavigero, vol. i, p. 114. Richmond edition. 



132 Sketches of Mexico. 

orable manner by the application of Toltecas. They 
always lived in society collected into cities, under 
the government of kings and regular laws. 

'.' They were not very warlike, and less turned to 
the exercise of arms than to the cultivation of the 
arts. The nations that have succeeded them have 
acknowledged themselves indebted to the Toltecs 
for their knowledge of the culture of grain, cotton, 
pepper, and other most useful fruits. Nor did they 
only practice those arts which are dictated by ne- 
cessity, but those also which minister to luxury. 
They had the art of casing gold and silver and 
melting them in whatever forms they pleased, and 
acquired the greatest reputation from the cutting 
of all kinds of gems ; but nothing to us raises their 
character so high as their having been the inventors, 
or at least the reformers, of that system of the ar- 
rangement of time which was adopted by all the 
civilized nations of Anahuac, and which, as we shall 
see afterward, implies numerous observations and a 
wonderfully correct astronomy." 

This is a matter that certainly deserves more than 
passing mention, and which proves beyond a doubt 
the high state of civilization reached by these 
people. In their picture Jeoainoxtli, or divine book, 
were described the heavens, the planets, the con- 
stellations, the Toltecan calendar, with its cycles, 



Early Mexicans and their History. 133 

etc. Clavigero adds : *' However incredible it may 
appear to the critics of Europe, who are accustomed 
to look upon the Americans as all equally barbarous, 
they, Mexicans and all the other civilized nations of 
Anahuac, regulated their civil year according to the 
solar." * It " consisted of seventy-three periods of 
thirteen days, and the century of seventy-three 
periods of thirteen months, or cycles of three hun- 
dred and sixty days." 

It is certainly not to be doubted that the Mexi- 
can or Toltecan system of the distribution of time 
was extremely well digested, though at first view it 
appears rather intricate and perplexed ; hence, we 
may infer with confidence it was not the work of a 
rude or an unpolished people. That, however, 
which is most surprising in their mode of computing 
time, and which will certainly appear improbable to 
readers who are ill informed with respect to Mexi- 
can antiquity, is that, having discovered the excess 
of a few hours in the solar above the civil year, 
they made use of intercalary days to bring them to 
an equality, but with the difference in regard to 
the method established by Julius Csesar in the 
Roman calendar, that they did not interpose a day 
every four years, but thirteen days (making use 
even here of this favorite number) every fifty-two 
* Vol. i, pp. 335, 336. 



134 Sketches of Mexico. 

years, which produces the same regulations of time. 
At the expiration of the cycle they broke, as we 
shall mention hereafter, all the kitchen utensils, 
fearing that then also the fourth age, the sun and 
all the world were to be ended, and on the last 
night they performed the famous ceremony of the 
new fire. As soon as they were assured by the new 
fire that a new cycle, according to their belief, 
was granted to them by the gods, they employed 
the thirteen following days in supplying their 
kitchen utensils, in furnishing new garments, in re- 
pairing their temples and houses, and in making 
eveiy preparation for the grand festivals of the new 
century. 

These thirteen days were the intercalary days 
represented in their paintings by blue points ; they 
were not included in the cycle just expired, nor 
in that which was just commencing, nor did they 
continue in them their periods of days which they 
always reckoned from the first day to the last day 
of the century. 

When the intercalary days were elapsed they 
began the new cycle with the year I, Tochtli, and 
the day I, Cipactli, upon the twenty-sixth day of 
F'ebruary, as they did at the beginning of the pre- 
ceding cycle. 

We would not venture to relate these particulars 



Early Mexicans and their History. 135 

if we were not supported by the testimony of Dr. 
Siguenza, who, " in addition to his great learning, 
his critical skill and sincerity, was the person who 
most diligently exerted himself to illustrate these 
points, and consulted with the best instructed Mex- 
icans and Tezcocans, and studied their histories 
and paintings." 

Some thirteen years since a missionary errand 
took us for the first time to Tula. We found a 
quiet little city, built largely of basaltic rock taken 
from the surrounding mountains or possibly from 
ancient ruins mostly buried beneath the surface. 
There was an attractive little plaza, with a bubbling 
fountain in the center. A noble cathedral, bearing 
the date of 1553, indicates the importance in which 
the Spanish invaders held the town three hundred 
and fifty years ago. " It is a magnificent building, 
with lofty groined ceiling, and with a collection of 
paintings that appear to possess great merit as well 
as antiquity." The ancient Tula River still encircles 
half the town, and a stone bridge arched, and with a 
parapet, carries the date 1772. 

But on the right and left are evidences of greater 
antiquity than either bridge or cathedral can show. 
Some of these, as stated in a previous lecture, are 
in the very plaza, sacredly guarded by the govern- 
ment, and above the city, on a hill overlooking two 



136 Sketches of Mexico. 

valleys ; on a ridge about a mile in length are the 
ruins of buildings erected perhaps as far back as the 
seventh and eighth centuries. 

Prescott says of the settlement of the Toltecs 
here in 648, following the date given by Clavigero : 
" They fixed their capital at Tula, north of the 
Mexican valley, and the remains of extensive build- 
ings were to be discerned there at the time of the 
conquest. The noble ruins of religious and other 
edifices are referred to this people, whose name, 
Toltec, has passed into a synonym for architect. 
Their shadowy history reminds one of those primi- 
tive races who preceded the ancient Egyptians in 
the march of civilization. After four centuries the 
Toltecs disappeared as silently and mysteriously as 
they came."^ 

Whatever of mystery may have surrounded their 
advent, their disruption as a nation is as circum- 
stantially told, and is as authentic, as any history 
or tradition of that period. It is the old story, and 
the causes are such as have brought ruin to many a 
family and nation in the past. About the begin- 
ning of the eleventh century the seeds of disturb- 
ance were sown in the hitherto peaceful and pros- 
perous kingdom of Tollan. Some Indians had 
found the squirrels sapping the maguey plant 
* Prescott, vol. i, p. 8. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 137 

(agave), which produces at maturity great quanti- 
ties of juice. From this originated the idea of 
scraping the heart of the ripe plant, allowing the 
juice to ferment, and thus inventing for themselves 
a drink which to this day is procured, prepared, and 
used in exactly the same way, known everywhere 
as the national beverage, pulque. Indeed, it is now 
raised in such quantities in the valley of Anahuac 
as to require a heavy railway train each day on 
three different railroads to supply the demand in 
the national capital alone. Whatever may be the 
profit accruing to railways from the traffic the 
beverage causes laziness, poverty, distress, and ruin 
to many a family that otherwise might be prosper- 
ous and happy. But the day is doubtless near at 
hand when this wonderful plant will be cultivated 
more for its fiber (which makes excellent cordage 
and superior paper) than for its sap. The Mexican 
pulque plant, like the palm of the Arabs and the 
bamboo of the East, serves many a purpose useful 
as well as ornamental. 

On the discovery of pulque one of the nobles of 
ToUan went with his daughter to present a draught 
of the beverage to the king. So great was his de- 
light with the giver and with the gift that she w^as 
ordered to return unattended by her father with 
more, and then she became a royal prisoner of the 



138 Sketches of Mexico. 

court. The illicit love of Tecpancaltzin, the mon- 
arch, brought with it its punishment. And when 
at last his natural son, Meconetzin, sat upon the 
throne the Toltecs were destroyed as a nation and 
the remnant of that ancient people scattered far 
and wide, the combined work of internal dissen- 
sions, famine, and an invading force from Jalisco. It 
was here that Quetzalcoatl, the great culture hero, 
the '' Plumed Serpent," or '' God of the Air," as he 
was sometimes called, and better known in the 
United States as the "Fair God," played an im- 
portant role. Here may be seen the famous *' Hill 
of Shouting," from whence he sent his summons 
and commands over the entire valley of Anahuac. 
Some say that he was a native of the East, and 
came across the great ocean. Some say that his 
miraculous birth was due to the fact that his mother 
swallowed a precious stone. ^ He has been claimed 
by nearly every nationality on earth. The follow- 
ing description by Professor Short is worthy of inser- 
tion here : 

" From the distant East, from the fabulous 
Huehue Tlapallan, this mysterious personage came 
to Tollan, and became the patron, god, and high 
priest of the ancestors of the Toltecs. He is de- 
scribed as having been a white man, with a strong 

* Chavero, p. 372. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 139 

formation of body, broad forehead, large eyes, and 
flowing beard. He wore a miter on his head, and 
was dressed in a long white robe reaching to his 
feet and covered with red crosses. In his hand he 
held a sickle. His habits were ascetic ; he never 
married, was most chaste and pure in his life, and is 
said to have endured penance in a neighboring 
mountain, not for its effects upon himself, but as an 
example to others. Some have here found a par- 
allel for Christ's temptation. He condemned sacri- 
fices, except of fruits and flowers, and was known 
as god of peace ; for when addressed on the subject 
of war he is reported to have stopped his ears with 
his fingers. 

" Quetzalcoatl was skilled in many parts, having 
invented gem cutting and metal casting. He further- 
more originated letters and invented the Mexican 
calendar. The legend which describes the latter 
states that the gods, having made men, thought it 
advisable that their creatures should have some 
means of reckoning time and of regulating the 
order of religious ceremonies. Therefore two of 
these celestial personages, one of them a goddess, 
called Quetzalcoatl to counsel with them, and the 
three contrived a system which they recorded on 
tables, each bearing a single sign. That sign, how- 
ever, was accompanied with all necessary explana- 



140 Sketches of Mexico. 

tions of its meaning. It is noticeable that the god- 
dess was assigned the privilege of writing the first 
sign, and that she chose a serpent as her favorite 
symbol. 

" Some accounts represent that Hueman was the 
temporal king, or at least associated with Quetzal- 
coatl in the government, the latter occupying the 
priestly as well as the kingly office. Sahagun calls 
the associate ruler Vemac. At all events, Quetzal- 
coatl had an enemy, the deity Tezcatlipoca, whose 
worship was quite opposite in its character to that 
of Quetzalcoatl, being sanguine and celebrated 
with horrid human sacrifices. A struggle ensued 
in Tula (ToUan) between the opposing systems, 
which resulted favorably to the bloody deity and 
the faction who sought to establish his worship in 
preference to the peaceful and ascetic service of 
Quetzalcoatl. 

^' Tezcatlipoca, envious of the magnificence en- 
joyed by Quetzalcoatl, determined upon his destruc- 
tion. His first appearance at Tula was in the role 
of a great ball player, and Quetzalcoatl, being very 
fond of the game, engaged to play with him, when, 
suddenly, he transformed himself into a tiger, oc- 
casioning a panic among the spectators, in which 
great numbers were crowded over a precipice into a 
river, where they perished. Again the vicious god 



Early Mexicans and their History. 141 

appeared at Tula. This time he presented him- 
self at the door of Quetzalcoatl's palace in the guise 
of an old man, and asked permission of the servants 
to see his master. They attempted to drive him 
away, saying that the god was ill. At last, because 
of his importunities, they obtained leave to admit 
him. Tezcatlipoca entered, and, seeing the sick 
deity, asked about his health, and announced that 
he had brought him a medicine which would ease 
his body, compose his mind, and prepare him for 
the journey which fate had decreed that he must 
undertake. 

"Quetzalcoatl received the sorcerer kindly, inquir- 
ing anxiously as to the journey and the land of his 
destiny. His deceiver told him that the name of 
the land was Tollan Tlapallan, where his youth 
would be renewed, and that he must visit it without 
delay. The sick king was moved greatly by the 
words of the sorcerer, and was prevailed upon to 
taste the intoxicating medicine which he pressed to 
his lips. At once he felt his malady healed, and the 
desire to depart fixed itself in his mind. * Drink 
again ! ' exclaimed the old sorcerer ; and again the 
god king pressed the cup to his lips and drank till 
the thought of departure became indelible, chained 
his reason, and speedily drove him a wanderer from 
his palace and kingdom. Upon leaving Tula^ 



142 Sketches of Mexico. 

driven from his kingdom by the vicious enmity of 
TezcatHpoca, he ordered his palaces of gold and sil- 
ver and turquoise and precious stones to be set on 
fire. The myriads of rich-plumed songsters that 
made the air of the capital melodious with song ac- 
companied him on his journey, pipers playing on 
pipes preceded him, and the flowers by the way are 
said to have given forth unusual volumes of perfume 
at his approach. After journeying one hundred 
leagues southward he rested near a city of Ana- 
huac, under a great tree, and, as a memorial of the 
event, he cast stones at the tree, lodging them in its 
trunk. He then proceeded still further southward, 
in the same valley, until he came to a mountain 
two leagues distant from the city of Mexico. Here 
he pressed his hands upon a rock on which he 
rested, and left their prints imbedded in it, where 
they remained visible down to a very recent, date. 
He then turned eastward to Cholula, where he was 
received with greatest reverence. The great pyra- 
mid was erected to his honor. With his advent the 
spirit of peace settled down upon the city. War 
was not known during his sojourn in it. The reign 
of Saturn repeated itself. The enemies of the 
Cholulans came with perfect safety to his temple, 
and many wealthy princes of other countries erected 
temples to his honor in the city of his choice. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 143 

*' Here the silversmith, the sculptor, the artist, 
and the architect, we are led to believe, from the 
testimony of both tradition and remains, flourished 
under the patronage of the grand god king. How- 
ever, after twenty years had elapsed that subtle, 
feverish draught received from the hands of Tezcat- 
lipoca away back in Tula, like an old poison in the 
veins, renewed its power. Again his people, his 
palaces, and his pyramidal temple were forsaken, 
that he might start on his long and final journey. 
He told his priests that the mysterious Tlapallan was 
his destination, and, turning toward the east, pro- 
ceeded on his way until he reached the sea at a 
point a few miles south of Vera Cruz. Here he 
bestowed his blessing upon four young men who 
accompanied him from Cholula, and commanded 
them to go back to their homes, bearing the prom- 
ise to his people that he would return to them and 
again set up his kingdom among them. Then, em- 
barking in a canoe made of serpent skins, he sailed 
away into the east. 

" The Cholulans, out of respect to Quetzalcoatl, 
placed the government in the hands of the recipients 
of his blessing. His statue was placed in a sanctuary 
on the pyramid, but in a reclining position, represent- 
ing a state of repose, with the understanding that it 
shall be placed upon its feet when the god returns. 



144 Sketches of Mexico. 

'' When Cortez landed they believed their hopes 
realized, sacrificed a man to him, and sprinkled the 
blood of the unhappy victim upon the conqueror 
and his companions." * 

Most historians content themselves simply with 
stating at this period of events that toward the 
close of the existence of the Toltec power Anahuac 
was overrun by the incursions of a fierce and 
dreaded people, the Chichimecs. However, the 
origin, migration, and subsequent history of these 
mysterious people, of whom the Indians of Mexico 
still freely talk, is certainly worthy of a few 
moments' notice. While our information concern- 
ing their origin is not as complete as we could wish, 
yet it is quite evident that they were neighbors of 
the Toltecs in Huehue Tlapallan and, it would ap- 
pear, had been in constant dread of them before 
and during the migrations. 

We further find that their primitive land or home 
was called Amaquemecan ; of its exact situation, 
Clavigero says, we are ignorant, and yet he locates 
it somewhere in North America, '' like the north of 
Europe, the nursery of the human race. From 
both in swarms there issued numerous nations to 
people the countries in the south." f 

* N'orth Americans of Autiqtiity, p. 267, et seq.; also Mexico A 
Traves de los Siglos^ vol. i, pp. 272-274. f Vol. i, p. 119. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 145 

Torquemada locates it six hundred miles to the 
north of the modern city of Guadalajara, which 
would bring it below the Texas border; possibly 
he meant leagues. Both he and Ixtlilxochitl repre- 
sent the Chichimecs as pursuing and annoying the 
Toltecs in all their wanderings. Perhaps this is not 
literally true, but it does appear that they reached 
the borders of Anahuac soon after the Toltecs, pos- 
sibly within eleven years. It also appears that early 
in the eighth century the Toltecs consented as a 
peace offering to accept a Chichimec prince for their 
king, but with the express condition that the Tol- 
tecs should always be a free people and be in no 
way tributary to the Chichimecs. 

At first they doubtless spoke, as Pimentel as- 
serts,* a language distinct from the Nahua nations, 
but subsequently adopted the Nahua tongue, on 
the principle asserted by the French linguist Balbi : 
** It is not the language of the conquering people 
that invariably dominates, but that which is most 
regular and cultured." f Pimentel further says that 
the language of the Chichimecs was not only once 
distinct from the Nahua, and " that these people 
came under the civilizing influences of the Toltecs 
during their golden age, but in their declining pe- 

*Vol. i, chap, iii, Epstein edition of 1874. 
f Quoted by Short. 



146 Sketches of Mexico. 

riod availed themselves of the opportunity of pos- 
sessing their country and advanced civilization." 

If the Chichimecs and Toltecs were neighbors 
when the latter lived in Huehue Tlapallan, we might 
naturally look for some light on that disputed local- 
ity in the Chichimecan annals ; but here again we 
are disappointed. Amaquemecan is the only name 
we find applied to their primitive home or history. 
Mr. Bancroft, after years of arduous research, de- 
clares that *' there seems to be absolutely nothing 
to indicate whether Amaquemecan was in the north 
or south." Spanish authors all agree in the direc- 
tion, though they disagree on the locality, assigning 
places all the way between Zacatecas, in Mexico, 
and as far north as Alaska. It also seems probable 
that the great original Nahua empire, whether it is 
named Huehue Tlapallan, Tamoanchan, Tollan, or 
Amaquemecan, was the Chichimecan empire ; that 
is, that the Toltecs or revolting branch constituted 
but a small portion of the Chichimecan or Nahua 
people. At least so Mr. Bancroft and several other 
historians think.* 

But, reverting to our story, we find the Chichimecs 
arriving in considerable numbers at Tollan (Tula) 
eighteen months after leaving Amaquemecan under 
command of Xolotl, according to Clavigero, in 1 170, 

* Baacroft, vol. v, p. 220. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 147 

though Lord Kingsborough puts it much earher,* 
and Chavero shows clearly that they reached the 
valley of Mexico as early as 635. On arrival they 
found that the splendor of the ancient capital had 
departed, *' its streets deserted and overgrown 
with vegetation, its magnificent temples and palaces 
were in ruins, and desolation reigned where so lately 
had been the hum and bustle of a mighty metropo- 
lis." After leaving some of his people in this place, 
which he considered too important to entirely aban- 
don, notwithstanding its ruinous condition, he con- 
tinued his march to Lake Xaltocan, where the peo- 
ple lived for some time in caves until they built the 
town of Xoloc, which still exists and bears the name 
of this nomadic chief from the north. About this 
time they are said to have numbered three million 
two hundred and two thousand men and women, 
children not included. Cempoala and other towns 
were founded, and finally Xolotl took up his perma- 
nent residence near the present modern town of 
Tezcoco. On the sides of the mountains overlook- 
ing this magnificent valley I have walked and have 
ridden over acres of ruins, destroyed, perhaps at 
first, by foreign invaders, and buried later by washes 
from the mountains or eruptions from the adja- 
cent snow-capped Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl, 

* Mexico A Traves de los Siglos, vol. i, p. 353. 



148 Sketches of Mexico. ' 

which seem indeed ^Ho kiss the firmament," and 
which form a most glorious background for the 
whole country. No wonder Xolotl tarried here. 
Never did earthly king find a more inspiring or a 
grander spot to plant a throne. After him reigned 
Xolotl II, and, as in the case of his father (or uncle), 
many smaller tribes seemed glad to be affiliated 
with this growing and prosperous kingdom. 

At Culhuacan, Chapultepec, Quauhtitenco, and 
other centers friendly tribes were ruled over by 
lords, while at Cholula two priests held the reins 
of government, all of whom recognized the suprem- 
acy of Xolotl II. Representatives were dispatched 
to the four quarters and in time returned, bringing 
news of many settlements as far south as Coatzaco- 
alcos, Tehuantepec, and even Guatemala. The rem- 
nants of the Toltecs in Anahuac offered no opposi- 
tion, and the king proceeded to divide the land 
among his nobles, giving to each a definite section, 
with instructions to establish a central city to be 
named, in each case, after its founder. This, doubt- 
less, accounts for what in some histories seems a 
multiplicity of nations. 

The country thus divided reached the gulf coast, 
and it is said to have been over two hundred leagues 
in circumference. The heart of this ancient empire 
is to-day the very heart of the Methodist Mission ; 



Early Mexicans and their History. 149 

and where once roved the half-naked hunter and 
semiciviHzed princes, some two or three score of 
our itinerants, " clothed in their right mind," 
under the orders of ** the King of kings," are march- 
ing to sure and certain conquest for a kingdom 
which shall, unlike these of which we have been 
speaking, endure when the sun and moon no longer 
shine. 

Anything like a complete history of the Chichi- 
mecs and their affiliated tribes, their wars and con- 
quests, their successes and rebuffs, would require as 
much space as is allowed for this entire course of 
lectures. The student is respectfully referred to 
Bancroft's, to Short's, to Clavigero's, and to Lord 
Kingsborough's valuable works, from all of which 
we learn that the Chichimecan empire lasted from 
the twelfth century down to the year 1521 A. D., 
during which time they had eleven lawful kings and 
two usurpers upon the throne. After this latter 
date it became a part of the Mexican kingdom. 
Before dismissing the subject, however, the follow- 
ing brief account of their manners and customs, 
from one of Mexico's most reliable historians, may 
be of interest : 

" The character of the Chichimecs, as is shown by 

their history, was very singular, as a certain degree 

of civilization was blended with many traits of bar- 
11 



150 Sketches of Mexico. 

barism. They lived under the command of a sov- 
ereign, and the chiefs and governors deputed by 
him, with as much submission as is usual among 
the most cultivated nations. 

*' There were distinctions between the nobility 
and commonalty, and the plebeians were accus- 
tomed to reverence those whose birth, merit, or 
favor with the prince raised them above other 
ranks. They dwelt in communities together, in 
places composed, as we may imagine, of poor huts ; 
but they neither practiced agriculture nor those 
arts which accompany civil life. They lived only 
on game and fruits and roots which the earth 
spontaneously produced. Their clothing was the 
rough skins of the wild beasts they took in prey, 
and their arms no other than the bow and arrow. 
Their religion was reduced to the simple worship 
of the sun, to which pretended divinity they offered 
herbs and flowers which they found springing in the 
fields. With respect to their customs, they were 
certainly less displeasing and less rude than those 
to which the genius of a nation of hunters gives 
birth."* 

The arrival of the Nahuatlaca tribes about this 
time deserves special notice. They came in differ- 
ent numbers, at different times, and under a variety 
* Clavigeio, vol. i, p. 120. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 151 

of names. Their original home was Aztlan, which 
Bourbourg locates in California ; Prescott, Gondra, 
and Humboldt, " north of 42° north latitude " 
(Oregon, perhaps) ; Clavigero says, ** north of the 
Colorado River ; " the more recent school of Ameri- 
canists gives it a southern location ; while Father 
Duran, after locating it in Florida and asserting that 
his conclusions cannot be doubted, like all his con- 
temporaneous authors, reverently adds, " Although 
in all I submit myself to the correction of the holy 
Catholic Church." * 

Further along in his History this same author 
tells us how the royal chronologist, the aged Cueuh- 
coatl, described Aztlan to the elder Moctezuma 
when summoned to the court for this purpose. He 
replied to the emperor's question as follows : 

" Our fathers dwelt in that happy and prosperous 
place which they called Aztlan, which means * white- 
ness.' In this place there is a great mountain in 
the middle of the water, which is called Culhuacan, 
because it has the point somewhat turned over to- 
ward the bottom, and for this cause it is called 
Culhuacan, which means 'crooked mountain.' 

*' In this mountain were some openings or caves 
or hollows where our fathers and ancestors lived 
for many years ; there, under this name Mexitin and 

* Historia de las Indias, vol. i, p. g. 



152 Sketches of Mexico. 

Aztec, they had much repose ; there they enjoyed a 
great plenty of ducks ; of all species of marine birds 
and water fowls ; enjoyed the song and melody of 
birds with yellow crests ; enjoyed many kinds of 
large and beautiful fish ; enjoyed the freshness of 
trees that were upon those shores, and fountains in- 
closed with elders and savins (junipers) and alder 
trees, both large and beautiful. They went about 
in canoes, and made furrows in which they planted 
maize, red peppers, tomatoes, beans, and all kinds of 
seed that we eat." * 

The causes which impelled their exodus from 
such a delightful country can only be conjectured ; 
but it is likely that they were driven out by a more 
powerful people. The native tradition relates that 
a bird was heard for many days repeating the word 
'' Tihui, tihui," which means, '' Let us go, let us go." 
With the same bird still singing in the forests of 
Mexico his melancholy '' Tihui, tihui," it is difficult 
to persuade the descendants of these primitive races 
that old Huitzitin and Tecpatzin, wisest among the 
Nahuatlaca chiefs, did not receive a message from 
the gods directing their people to seek a new home. 

After twenty-six years they reached Chicomoztoc, 
the famous ''seven caves," which is regarded by 
Clavigero to be twenty miles south of the modern 

*Historia de las Indias, vol. i, p. 219. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 153 

town of Zacatecas, where still exist the ruins of 
some great edifice. Seven tribes at least were cen- 
tered, at one time, in Chicomoztoc, though some 
authors add the names of eight others.* Of the 
seven we will take time to mention only two, the 
two which eventually rose to great political impor- 
tance. We refer to the Tlascalans, who founded a 
small though independent republic, and the Aztecs, 
*' whose empire has been the wonder of students of 
antiquity and subject of histories as romantic as the 
purest fiction." 

The first named, the Tlascalans, on arrival at 
Anahuac, established at Poyauhtlan, on the eastern 
shore of Lake Tezcoco. After they grew in num- 
bers and attempted to usurp the lands of neighbor- 
ing tribes, they so stirred up the latter as to cause 
three or four of them to make an alliance and to 
march against the Tlascalans. Being driven from 
the valley, part of them obtained permission to set- 
tle in ToUantzingo and in Quauhchinanco, while 
more than half of them found their way to Cholula, 
where they dislodged the Olmecs and Xicalancas. 
Soon after, however, the jealousy of neighboring 
tribes gave them trouble, and they were obliged to 
seek anew the protection of the Chichimecan king, 
and by the aid of their allied forces they came off 

* Bancroft, vol. v, p. 307. 



154 Sketches of Mexico. 

victorious. After a declaration of peace they forti- 
fied themselves in a permanent home. On their 
north and south rose nature's great bulwarks, the 
precipitous mountains, on their west they dug a great 
trench, and on their east built a high wall six miles 
in length, reaching completely across their territory 
from mountain to mountain. Within this small in- 
closure have lived the warlike and courageous Tlas- 
calans during all these centuries, ever jealous of 
their honor and liberty. For a long time, and in 
spite of all opposition, they upheld the splendor of 
their little republic, until, at length, in confederacy 
with the Spaniards, they marched against their an- 
cient rivals, the Mexicans, and in some measure 
shared a common ruin. Yet, though part of the 
Mexican federation, they retain many of their dis- 
tinctive peculiarities, and their ancient republic is 
now known as the State of Tlascala. The meaning 
of the word is "3. place of bread," and derives its 
origin from the great abundance of maize produced 
on its soil. 

Some idea of the bravery of these noble Indians 
may be had frond a circumstance connected with their 
early history. Since the time of the first Moctezuma 
all Mexican kings treated the Tlascalans as enemies. 
Strong garrisons were maintained along the frontiers 
of Tlascala so as to prevent trade with other tribes. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 155 

and especially with the coast. Finding themselves 
thus deprived of the source of the necessaries of life, 
the Tlascalans sent a complaint to the Mexican 
court. The Mexicans, exalted by their prosperity, 
replied " that the King of Mexico was lord of all the 
world, and all mortals were his vassals,"* and as 
such the Tlascalans should render him obedience 
and pay him tribute ; otherwise their city would be 
sacked, they should perish, and their country be in- 
habited by another people. 

To this arrogant answer the ambassador replied : 
" Most powerful lords, Tlascala owes you no sub- 
mission, nor have the Tlascalans ever acknowledged 
any prince with tributes since their ancestors left 
the countries in the north to inhabit this land- 
They have always preserved their liberty, and, being 
unaccustomed to the slavery to which you pretend 
to subject them, rather than submit to your power 
they will shed more blood than their fathers shed 
in the famous battle of Payauhtlan." Without the 
alliance of such a people the Spanish conquest 
would have been impossible to Cortez. 

The last of these migrating tribes from the north 
to reach the valley of Anahuac was the Aztec. 
They left Aztlan with the Nahuatlaca tribes, but 
remained longer in Chicomoztoc than the others, so 

*Vol. i, p. 291. 



156 Sketches of Mexico. 

that they did not reach Chapultepec till toward the 
close of the twelfth century, nearly four hundred 
years before the conquest. Perhaps no point of 
primitive Mexican history has given origin to 
greater discussion than the line of march followed 
by the Aztecs in their journey from Aztlan to An- 
ahuac. Mr. Bancroft says : " It is utterly useless to 
attempt its clearing up, and I dispose of the whole 
matter by simply presenting in a note the dates 
and successive halting places attributed to this 
migration by the principal authorities." The time 
required to read his extended note is more th-an we 
can allow here.* 

Perhaps Clavigero's plan is as correct as any, 
and as it has the virtue of being shorter than 
others we insert it here. It is as follows : 

"The Aztecs left Aztlan in 1160, crossed the 
Colorado River, stayed three years at Huecolhuacan, 
went east to Chicomoztoc, where they separated 
from the Nahuatlaca tribes, then to Coatlicamac, 
and reached Tula in 1196, remaining nine yeara ; 
then spent eleven years in different places, reached 
Zumpanco in 12 16, remaining seven years, then 
Tizajocan, Tolpetlac, Tepejacac, and Chapultepec 
in 1245 during Nopaltzin's reign. "f 

* Native Races, vol. v, pp. 322-324. 
f Clavigero, vol. i, pp. 150-156. 



Early Mexicans and their History. 157 

They had not been long on their journey till their 
religious tendency asserted itself. So they made a 
wooden image to represent Huitzilopochtli, the 
tutelar deity of the nation. They then made a 
chair of reeds and rushes in which to carry the 
image, and which they called Teoicpalli, or " chair 
of God.'' Four priests at a time were to carry him 
on their shoulders, and they were called Teotlamocaz- 
que, " servants of God," and the act itself was called 
Teomana, that is, " to carry God on one's back." 

Mr. Bancroft * says that this Teoicpalli was a 
holy box, such as was used among the Etruscans 
and Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans, in 
Ilium, among the Japanese and among the Mongols. 
In America the Cherokees are also found with such 
an ark. Wherever the Aztecs halted for some time 
during their wanderings they erected an altar or 
a sacrifice mound to their god, upon which they 
placed this god's litter with the image, which 
ancient observation they kept up in later times in 
their temples. By its side they erected a movable 
tent, tabernaculinn^ in the open country, as is cus- 
tomary among nomadic peoples, such as the Mon- 
gols. All of which reminds us of the ark of the 
covenant carried by the Levites, and the tabernacle 
in the wilderness. 

* Native Races, vol. iii, p. 303. 



158 Sketches of Mexico. 

Just after leaving Chicomoztoc and prior to 
reaching Tula a quarrel divided the tribe into two 
factions, so much so that they finally became per- 
petual rivals. Tradition says that the quarrel arose 
over two bundles which miraculously appeared in 
their camp. On examining one bundle it was found 
to contain an emerald of extraordinary size and 
beauty. The other was found to contain nothing 
but two pieces of wood. The party opening the 
first bundle called themselves Tlaltelulcas, and con- 
sidered themselves the more fortunate, while the 
other faction, with the two pieces of wood, called 
themselves henceforth Mexicans, and were supposed 
to be the unfortunate ones. But when Huitziton 
made known to them a novel process of producing 
fire by rubbing two sticks together (an invention 
ever after prized by these people) they concluded 
that" science and industry were preferable even to 
beauty or nobility as typified by the emerald. 

Another legend oft quoted, and which has left 
its perpetual sign on the Mexican escutcheon, will 
bear repeating here : Not long after the event just 
referred to another mystery occurred in the camp. 
Their aged high priest, Huitziton, died or suddenly 
disappeared during the night. The next morning 
the report was everywhere circulated b)' his fellow- 
priests that he had taken his place among the gods, 



Early Mexicans and their History. 159 

and that on his arrival there he was assured by the 
great Tetzuah that, though dead, he would still 
*' guide and rule them from on high " and " show 
unto them the land which I have chosen for them, 
where they will have a long and prosperous empire." 
Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg adds to the speech, 
*' Where they shall find a nopal growing alone on a 
rock in the midst of the waters, and on this nopal an 
eagle holding a serpent in his claws ; there they are 
to halt, there will be the seat of their empire, there 
will my temple be built." ^ 

This story is still told to justify the location of the 
national capital on its present site. Our own famous 
Bishop Simpson, during his episcopal visit to our 
sister republic in 1873, saw everywhere this em- 
blem of the eagle on the nopal struggling with the 
serpent ; and when invited one day to a banquet 
in the American Legation, having among the audi- 
tors of his after-dinner speech President Lerdo de 
Tejada, made the happy hit, comparing the eagles 
of the two sister republics, that the special differ- 
ence between the American and the Mexican eagle 
was " that the latter, though still struggling with the 
serpent of tyranny which the former had crushed, 
would soon, like the former, be absolutely free." 

After a most circuitous route the Aztecs came at 

* Native Races, vol. v, p. 327. 



i6o Sketches of Mexico. 

last to their journey's end. And when we remem- 
ber that they were in quest of such a country as 
would afford them all the conveniences of life it is 
not to be wondered at that their migration was a 
very circuitous one. Nor is it surprising that in 
some cases they commenced to build palaces and 
temples, for they probably thought every stop 
would end their peregrination. Wherever they 
halted they raised an altar to their god, and in 
most cases representatives of their people remained 
behind, especially the aged and feeble and those 
weary of a wandering life. After Tula they came 
to Zumpanco, Tizayocan, Tepeyaca, Chapultepec, 
Mexicaltzingo, Ixtacalco, and other places, till at 
last they found a nopal growing on a stone, and on 
it the eagle struggling with a serpent. This place 
they named Tenochtitlan,the name by which Mexico 
city was known for ages. They immediately pro- 
ceeded to erect a temple for their god Huitzilo- 
pichitli, at which time a human being was offered 
in sacrifice. One of the Mexicans went to hunt an 
animal for said sacrifice, but finding none he laid 
hands upon a Colhuan of a neighboring tribe, bound 
and dragged him to the temple, where '* with great 
jubilee his heart was torn from his breast as he lay 
on the altar, and offered to their god." At this 
time the city was also called Mexico from the other 



Early Mexicans and their History. i6i 

of their gods, that is, the place or home of MexitH. 
Such, in 1325, was the beginning of the city of 
Tenochtitlan, which in future times was to be the 
court of a great empire, and which in later years 
Clavigero was pleased to call *' the largest and most 
beautiful city of the New World." 



LECTURE V. 



THE MOCTEZUMAS AND THE KING DAVID 
OF MEXICO. 



LECTURE V. 

THE MOCTEZUMAS AND THE KING DAVID OF 

MEXICO. 

AT the close of the first quarter of the four- 
teenth century the situation in Mexico was 
about as follows : The Aztecs, or Mexicans, as 
they were afterward called, had planted their king- 
dom in Tenochtitlan within somewhat circumscribed 
territory, having for their central city, in the heart 
of the valley lakes, the spot where eagle, nopal, and 
serpent were to be found in mystic combination ; 
a spot destined in future ages to be the site of Moc- 
tezuma's Halls, the seat of Spanish viceregal splen- 
dor, the brief American occupation under Scott, the 
turbulent court of French and Austrian usurpation, 
the theater alike of gayety, mourning, and the re- 
publican capital of a united and prosperous nation. 
** The term Mexico has widely different mean- 
ings under different conditions. At first it signified 
only the capital of the Nahua nation, and it was 
five hundred years before it overspread the terri- 
tory now known by that name. Mexico city was 

founded in 1325, and was called Mexico Tenochtitlan. 
12 



i66 Sketches of Mexico. 

The latter appellation has been connected with 
Tenoch, the Aztec leader at that time, and with 
the sign of a nopal on a stone, called in Aztec re- 
spectively nochtli and tetl, the final syllable repre- 
senting locality, and the first, Te, divinity or superi- 
ority. The word Mexico, however, was then rarely 
used, Tenochtitlan being the common term em- 
ployed ; and this was retained by the Spaniards for 
some time after the conquest, even in imperial de- 
cree, and in the official records of the city, though 
in the corrupt forms of Temixtitan, Tenustitan, etc. 
. . . Torquemada (i, 293) states distinctly that 
even in his time the natives never employed any 
other designation for the ancient city than Tenoch- 
titlan, which was also the name of the chief and fash- 
ionable ward. 

** Solis ... is of the opinion that Mexico was 
the name of the ward, Tenochtitlan being applied to 
the whole city, in which case Mexico Tenochtitlan 
would signify the ward Mexico of the city Tenoch- 
titlan. 

'' Gradually the Spanish records began to add 
Mexico to Tenochtitlan, and in those of the first 
provincial council, held in I5S5, we find written 
Tenuxtitlan Mexico. ... In the course of time the 
older and more intricate name disappeared, though 
the city arms always retained the symbolic nopal 



The Moctezumas. 167 

and stone. ... A number of derivations have been 
given to the word Mexico, as Mextli, navel of the 
maguey, Metl-ico, place amidst the maguey ; Mex- 
ico, on the maguey border ; Mecitli, hare ; Metzli, 
moon ; Amexica or Mexica, you of the anointed 
ones. The signification spring or fountain has also 
been applied. But most writers have contented 
themselves by assuming it to be identical with the 
Mexi, Mexitl, or Mecitl, appellation of the war god 
Huitzilopochtli, to which has been added the Co, 
an affix implying locality ; hence Mexico would 
imply the place or settlement of Mexica or Mexi- 
cans. 

"This war god Huitzilopochtli, as is well known, 
was the mythic leader and chief deity of the Aztecs, 
the dominant tribe of the Nahua nation. It was by 
this august personage, who was also called Mexitli, 
that according to tradition the name was given them 
in the twelfth century, and in these words: ' Inax- 
can aocmoamotoca ynamaz te ca ye am Mexica' — 
Henceforth bear ye not the name of Azteca, but 
Mexica. With this command they received the 
distinguishing mark of a patch of gum and feathers 
to wear upon their foreheads and ears." * 

This little kingdom had an aristocratic form of 
government down to the year 1352, with twenty 

* Bancroft, vol. ix, p. 12. ■ 



1 68 Sketches of Mexico. 

lords for rulers, the chief of them Tenoch. Stimu- 
lated by the example of their neighbors, the Chichi- 
mecs, the Tepanecs, and the Colhuas, they erected 
a monarchy with ambitious pretensions. Acama- 
pitzin, famous and prudent, was chosen king, and 
after applying in vain to three adjoining realms 
they secured at last from Coatlinchan a noble prince 
for their young king as well as a queen for them- 
selves. Their nearest neighbors, the Tlatelolcos, 
followed their example and erected a kingdom and 
invited Quaquauhpitzahuac, son of Atzcapozalco, of 
the Tepaneca nation, to accept the crown. This he 
did in 1353. 

The Tezcocans across the lake were building up 
the Athens of Anahuac, for here was a seat of 
learning which has been the marvel of centuries. 
The kingdom of Acolhuacan was near by, but was 
too full of internal dissensions to have permanent 
existence, and when Chimalpopoca ascended the 
Mexican throne the Acolhuacan heard its death- 
knell as an independent nation, andTezozomoc, the 
decrepit old king, " a monster of ambition, treach- 
ery, and injustice," ceased to live in 1422. 

However, the Tezcocans and their civilization de- 
serve more than a mere passing notice. Here flour- 
ished a civilization and center of learning which com- 
mands our admiration. We find the government 



The Moctezumas. 169 

divided into departments, such as a council of war, 
a council of finance, a council of justice, and a coun- 
cil of state. In each of these departments a certain 
number of citizens had voice and vote. 

There is also a council of music, which, different 
from the meaning of its name, was devoted to sci- 
ence and art. Here the historian, the astronomer, 
the chronologer, and all other writers were obliged to 
submit their works before publication. • This was 
exercising censorial power over the press with a 
vengeance. Mr. Prescott calls it " a general board 
of education for the country," and adds that the 
influence of this academy must have been most pro- 
pitious to the capital, which became the nursery, not 
only of such sciences as could be compassed by the 
scholarship of the period, but of various useful and 
ornamental arts. Its historians, orators, and poets 
were celebrated throughout the country. Its ar- 
chives, for which accommodations were provided in 
the royal palace, were stored with the records of 
primitive ages. Its idiom, more polished than the 
Mexican, was, indeed, the purest of all the Nahu- 
atlac dialects, and continued, long after the conquest, 
to be that in which the best productions of the na- 
tive races were composed. Tezcoco claimed the 
glory of being the Athens of the western world. 

Perhaps the greatest wonder of Tezcoco and the 



170 Sketches of Mexico. 

age of which we now speak was the emperor, Neza- 
hualcoyotl, who lived in a royal white palace nearly 
three quarters of a mile in length and half a mile in 
width. He was frequently in the academy himself, 
now as critic, now as orator. He wrote so many 
songs that he is frequently referred to as the King 
David of Mexican history. Some of these have 
been translated by his direct descendant of the 
fourth generation, Ixtlilxochitl, and from them we 
gather something of the style. One of them ran 
like this : 

" Yo tocare cantando 

El Musico instrumento sonroso 

Tu de flores gozando 

Danza, y festeja a Dios que es poderoso ; 

O gozemos de esta gloria, 

Porque la humana vida es transitoria." 

Dr. John Foster Kirk well says that the English 
poet, Herrick, has beautifully expressed this very 
common sentiment of the bard not only of Tezcoco^ 
but of many other nations, in the following lines : 

" Gather the rosebuds while you may, 

Old lime is still a-flying ; 
The fairest flower that blooms to-day 

To-morrow may be dying." 

The evolution of the religious belief of the old 
king is intensely interesting. He was not married 
till late in life. Then, being disappointed in having 
no issue, he was led b)^ the priests, though reluc- 



The Moctezumas. 171 

tanctly, to offer human sacrifices to the gods as his 
only hope. But though the altars again smoked 
with the blood of slaughtered captives it was all in 
vain. Then he declared : ** These idols of wood 
and stone can neither hear nor feel, much less could 
they make the heavens, and the earth and man, the 
lord of it. These must be the work of the all-power- 
ful unknown God, Creator of the universe, on whom 
alone I must rely for consolation and support." 

After forty days of fasting and meditation in his 
rural palace of Tezcotzinco he publicly professed 
his new faith and labored to wean his subjects from 
their superstitions. " He built a temple in the reg- 
ular pyramidal form, and in the summit a tower 
nine stories high, to represent the nine heavens ; a 
tenth was surmounted by a roof painted black, and 
profusely gilded with stars on the outside and in- 
crusted with metals and precious stones within. He 
dedicated this to * the unknown God, the Cause of 
causes * (A/ Dios no conocido, causa de las causas, — 
MS. de Ixtlilxochitl). It seems probable, from the 
emblem on the tower, as well as from the complex- 
ion of the verses, as we shall see, that he mingled 
with his reverence for the Supreme Being the astral 
worship which existed among the Aztecs. Various 
musical instruments were placed on the top of the 
tower, and the sound of them, accompanied by the 



1/2 Sketches of Mexico. 

ringing of a sonorous metal struck by a mallet, sum- 
moned the worshipers to prayers at regular seasons. 
No image was allowed in the edifice, as unsuitable 
to the ' invisible God,' and the people were ex- 
pressly prohibited from profaning the altars with 
blood or any other sacrifices than that of the per- 
fume of flowers and sweet-scented gums." ^ 

His declining years were spent in the study of 
astronomy and ''to meditation on his immortal 
destiny." His later verses show clearly that he 
turned for consolation '' to the world beyond the 
grave." So he says: "All things on earth have 
their term, and in the most joyous career of their 
vanity and splendor their strength fails and they 
sink into the dust. All the round world is but a 
sepulcher, and there is nothing which lives on its 
surface that shall not be hidden and entombed be- 
neath it. Rivers, torrents, and streams move on- 
ward to their destination. Not one flows back to 
its pleasant source. They rush onward, hastening 
to bury themselves in the deep bosom of the ocean. 
The things of yesterday are no more to-day, and 
the things of to-day will cease, perhaps, on the mor- 
row. The cemetery is full of the loathsome dust of 
bodies once quickened by living souls who occu- 
pied tlironcs, presided over assemblies, marshaled 

''■ Prescott's Conquest, vol, i, p. S9, Lippincott's edition. 



The Moctezumas. 173 

armies, subdued provinces, arrogated to themselves 
worship, were puffed up with vainglorious pomp 
and power and empire. 

" But these glories have all passed away like the 
fearful smoke that issues from the throat of Popo- 
catepetl, with no other memorial of their existence 
than the record on the page of the chronicler. The 
great, the wise, the valiant, and the beautiful — alas! 
where are they now ? They are all mingled with 
the clod, and that which has befallen them shall 
happen to us and to those that come after us. Yet, 
let us take courage, illustrious nobles and chieftains, 
true friends and loyal subjects, let us aspire to that 
heaven where all is eternal and corruption cannot 
come. The horrors of the tomb are but the cradle 
of the sun, and the dark shadows of death are bril- 
liant light for the stars."* 

Nezahualcoyotl died in 1470, at the age of seventy- 
two years, having ruled nearly half a century. He 
had done great things for his people by breathing 
into them new life and inspiration, extending their 
domains and lifting them high in the march of civ- 
ilization. His closing hours, blessed by the tender 
embrace of his eight-year-old child and the commit- 
tal to him of the crown, the final exhortation to his 
other children, the farewell to his ministers of state, 

* Prescott's Conquest^ vol. i, p. 89, 



174 Sketches of Mexico. 

and other touching incidents, are graphically por- 
trayed by Prescott and other historians — incidents 
that are most pathetic. But for that one foul blot 
of murder committed by him to obtain for wife one 
already betrothed to another he might, indeed, be 
considered " the greatest and best monarch who 
ever sat upon an Indian throne." 

But to return to the neighboring nations. Dis- 
sensions continued for some time among these and 
other tribes in and adjoining the valley of Anahuac, 
till the Tepanecs were defeated and Atzcapotzalco 
was conquered. It was about this time that the 
first of the Moctezumas, the beginning of a glorious 
line, was born, rose to prominence and gave an ex- 
ample of civic bravery and of superstitious coward- 
ice which is quoted with the passing centuries. 

The Mexicans were at war with neighboring 
tribes which had united to dislodge them from their 
charmed and coveted Chapultepec. Moctezuma, 
not yet thirty years of age, had been put in charge 
of the forces marching under the triple insignia : 
the eagle, the nopal, and the serpent. The superior 
forces of the enemy had well-nigh crushed the Az- 
tec, and it looked as though a retreat would be 
ordered. Just then, and a little before sunset, as re- 
inforcements continued to swell the enemy's forces, 
dismay and complaint were widespread. Some 



The Moctezumas. 175 

even cried out, '* What are we about, O Mexicans ? 
Shall we do well in sacrificing our lives to the am- 
bition of our king and our general?" 

The king called a hasty council of princes and 
generals on the field of battle and propounded the 
question, ''What shall we do?" 

*' What ? " answered the noble young Moctezuma ; 
"fight till death ! If we die with our arms in our 
hands, defending our liberty, we will do our duty* 
If we survive our defeat we will remain covered 
with eternal confusion. Let us go, then ; let us 
fight till we die." 

King, nobles, officers, and soldiers caught the in- 
spiration of the hour and exclaimed in one voice, 
*' Let us die with glory." On they rushed; some 
to death, it is true, but as a body to complete and 
speedy victory. From that day to this the name 
of Moctezuma I has been a synonym for bravery. 
The mere name of Moctezuma, the gallant Tzin, on 
all festive occasions will now send a thrill of patriot- 
ism and of enthusiasm through the hearts of the in- 
digenous people. Soon after the royal family of the 
Chichimecs was established on the throne of Acol- 
huacan. The monarchy of Tacuba was established. 
Then came the triple alliance of these two with the 
Mexican nation and the hero of Atzcapotzalco was 
anointed King Moctezuma I. Ere long the Tlate- 



176 Sketches of Mexico. 

lolcos were brought into subjection. Moctezuma, 
pushing his victorious army on to the south, soon 
added to his crown the States of Huaxtepec, Juah- 
tepec, Tepoztlan, Jacapichtla, Totolapan, Tlalco- 
zanhtitlan, Chicapan, and many others. Then turn- 
ing westward he met with similar success. After 
nine years he returned " with the spoils of many na- 
tions " to adorn the enlarged temple of Huitzilo- 
pochtli. 

In 1446 came the great inundation, followed in 
1448 and 1449 by the terrible famine. But in both 
these ordeals Moctezuma seemed as eminent as in 
times of war. In the first case as great skill was 
displayed by the Mexicans as was displayed by Eu- 
ropean engineers in a 'similar inundation under 
Spanish rule two hundred years later. 

Then followed the conquest of the Mixtecas, and 
finally M'octezuma's army reached the gulf coast, 
victorious over everything, including the populous 
Olmec nation and only excepting that brave little 
Indian republic shut in by the mountains of Tlax- 
cala, unconquered even to the days of the Span- 
iards. Chalco, Tlalmanalco, and Ameca (in which 
last place one city lies buried beneath another) were 
soon embraced in the Mexican jurisdiction. So we 
find Moctezuma's empire on the cast extending to 
the gulf ; on the southeast, to the center of the Mix- 



The Moctezumas. 177 

tec country; on the south, beyond Chilepan ; on 
the west, to the valley of Toluca ; on the northwest, 
to the heart of the Otomi country ; and on the north, 
to the limit of the valley of Mexico. According to 
modern geography this included the States of Mex- 
ico, Puebla, Hidalgo, Guerrero, Vera Cruz, and 
western Oaxaca, with parts of Tamaulipas, San 
Luis Potosi, Queretaro, and Chiapas. 

It seems impossible to ascertain the exact num- 
ber of inhabitants of the country prior to the con- 
quest. But native historians all claim that the 
country was much more thickly inhabited then than 
now. There is data, however, upon which to base 
such a claim. For we find that soon after the death 
of Moctezuma I the following provisions were 
needed annually to sustain the royal Acolhuacan 
family alone, namely, 318,519!- tons of corn, 178,360 
tons of cocoanuts, 208 tons of red peppers, 44^ tons 
small peppers, 1,300 large baskets of salt, and 8,000 
turkeys. Such a family could hardly be supported 
by a smaller nation than the Chichimecs, for whom 
were claimed three and a half millions. Certainly, 
then, we are not far out of the way in claiming ten 
millions for the central table-lands and as many 
more for the Western and Southern States and for 
Yucatan, where the Maya civilization was then 
flourishing. Eminent Mexican scholars will not 



1/8 Sketches of Mexico. 

admit of less than twenty-five million, and Hum- 
boldt estimates thirty million. To the shame of 
Spain be it said that the population of Mexico is 
less than half that number now. 

The second Moctezuma, nephew of the first, 
began his reign in the last years of the fifteenth 
century. He was a brave general, a humble priest, 
a renowned astronomer, and " much revered for his 
gravity, his circumspection, and his religion. He 
was a man of a taciturn temper, extremely deliber- 
ate, not only in words, but also in his actions ; and 
whenever he spoke in the royal council, of which he 
was a member, he was listened to with respect."^ 
When the news of his election from among a large 
number of legal candidates was published the 
allied kings seemed to vie with each other in doing 
him honor. Moctezuma himself, on being apprized 
of it, retired at once to the temple, and in order to 
simulate the humility with which he received the 
honor of his election set to work sweeping the pave- 
ment of the temple. From this humble pastime he 
was conducted by a numerous attendance to the pal- 
ace and duly notified, with prolific flow of Aztec 
eloquence, of his election, in which election the offi- 
cial orator saw " how strong is the love which the om- 
nipotent God bears to this nation " in giving a ruler 
of *' no less fortitude than your invincible heart pos- 



The Moctezumas. 179 

sesses and no less wisdom than that which in you 
we admire." 

The newly elected king was moved to tears. 
Overcoming his emotion, he made fitting reply, 
listened quietly to the closing ceremonies, and then 
retired for four days of fasting in the temple, at the 
end of which he was reconducted in great state to 
the royal palace. He then marched against the 
Atlixchese, at that time rebels against the crown, 
and took enough prisoners for the sacrifice con- 
nected with his coronation. '' On this occasion was 
displayed so much pomp of games, dances, theat- 
rical representations, and illuminations, and with 
such variety and richness of tributes sent from the 
different provinces of the kingdom, that foreigners 
never known before in Mexico came to see it, and 
even the enemies of the Mexicans, namely, the 
Tlaxcalans and the Michicacanese, were present in 
disguise at the spectacle."* 

As soon, however, as Moctezuma had the reins 
of government well in hand he began to develop 
great taste for display. Perhaps nothing will give 
a better idea of the strength and power of his king- 
dom than a description of his court. No one could 
enter the palace either to serve or confer without 
leaving his sandals at the door. No person could 

*Clavigero, vol. i, p. 279, 



i8o Sketches of Mexico. 

appear before the king in anything like pompous 
dress ; all persons on entering the hall of audience, 
and before speaking to the king, made three bows, 
saying at the first, " TlatoanV — lord; at the second, 
'^ Notlatosatzin'' — my lord; and at the third, ^^ Htii- 
tlatoanV — great lord. They spoke low, and with 
bowed heads awaited the king's reply by means of 
his secretary, as if they awaited the voice of an 
oracle. On retiring the back was never turnedon 
the throne. 

The immense audience hall served also for a ban- 
queting room. '' The table was a large pillow, and 
his seat a low chair. The tablecloth, napkins, and 
towels were of cotton, but very fine, white, and al- 
ways perfectly clean. The kitchen utensils were of 
the earthenware of Cholula ; but none of these things 
ever served him but once, as immediately after he 
gave them to one of his nobles. The cups in which 
they prepared his chocolate and other drinks of the 
cocoa were of gold, or some beautiful seashell or 
naturally formed vessels curiously varnished. . . . 
He had gold plate, but it was only used on certain 
festivals in the temple. The number and variety 
of dishes at his table amazed the Spaniards who 
saw them. The conqueror Cortez says that they 
covered the floor of a great hall, and that there 
were dishes of every kind of game, fish, fruit, and 



The Moctezumas. 181 

herbs of the country. Three or four hundred noble 
youths carried this dinner in form, presented it as 
soon as the king sat down to the table, and imme- 
diately retired, and that it might not grow cold every 
dish was accompanied with its chafing dish. The 
king marked with a rod, which he had in his hand, 
the meats which he chose, and the rest were dis- 
tributed among the nobles who were in the ante- 
chamber. Before he sat down four of the most 
beautiful women of his seraglio presented water to 
him to wash his hands, and continued standing 
all the time of his dinner, together with six of 
his principal ministers and his carver. As soon as 
the king sat down to table the carver shut the door 
of the hall, that none of the other nobles might see 
him eat. The ministers stood at a distance and 
kept a profound silence, unless when they made an- 
swer to what the king said. The carver and the 
four women served the dishes to him, besides two 
others who brought him bread made of maize baked 
with eggs. He frequently heard music during the 
time of his meal, and was entertained with the hu- 
morous sayings of some deformed men whom he 
kept out of mere state. He showed much satisfac- 
tion in hearing them, and observed that among 
their jests they frequently pronounced some impor- 
tant truth. When his dinner was over he took to- 
13 



i82 Sketches of Mexico. 

bacco mixed with liquid amber, in a pipe or reed 
beautifully varnished, and with the smoke of it put 
himself to sleep. After having slept a little upon 
the same low chair he gave audience and listened 
attentively to all that was communicated to him, 
encouraged those who, from embarrassment, were 
unable to speak to him, and answered everyone by 
his ministers or secretaries. After giving audience 
he was entertained with music, being much de- 
lighted with hearing the glorious actions of his an- 
cestors sung. At other times he amused himself 
with seeing various games played. . . . When he 
went abroad he was carried on the shoulders of the 
nobles in a litter covered with a rich canopy, at- 
tended by a numerous retinue of courtiers, and 
wherever he passed all people stopped with their 
eyes shut, as if they feared to be dazzled with the 
splendor of majesty. When he alighted from the 
litter to walk they spread carpets, that he might 
not touch the earth with his feet. 

" The grandeur and magnificence of his palaces, 
houses of pleasure, woods, and gardens were corre- 
spondent to this majesty. The palace of his usual 
residence was a vast edifice of stone and lime which 
had twenty doors to the public square and streets, 
three great courts, in one of which was a beautiful 
fountain, several halls, and more than a hundred 



The Moctezumas. 183 

chambers. Some of the apartments had walls of 
marble and other valuable kinds of stone. The 
beams were of cedar, cypress, and other excellent 
woods, well finished and carved. Among the halls 
there was one so large that, according to the testi- 
mony of an eyewitness of veracity, it could contain 
three thousand people. Besides this palace he had 
others, both within and without the capital. In 
Mexico, besides the seraglio for his wives, there 
was lodging for all his ministers and counselors and 
all the officers of his household and court ; and also 
accommodation for foreign lords who arrived there, 
and particularly for the two allied kings. 

*' Two houses in Mexico he appropriated to ani- 
mals : the one for birds which did not live by prey ; 
the other for birds of prey, quadrupeds, and reptiles. 
There were several chambers belonging to the first 
and galleries supported on pillars of marble, all of 
one piece. These galleries looked toward a garden, 
where, in the midst of some shrubbery, ten fish- 
ponds were formed, some of them of fresh water, for 
the aquatic birds of rivers, and others of salt water 
for those of the sea. In other parts of the house 
were all sorts of birds, in such number and variety 
as to strike the Spaniards with wonder, who could 
not believe there was any species in the world want- 
ing to the collection. They were supplied with the 



1 84 Sketches of Mexico. 

same food which they fed upon while they enjoyed 
their liberty, whether seeds, fruits, or insects. For 
those birds which lived on fish only, the daily con- 
sumption was ten Castilian pesos of fish, which is 
more than three hundred Roman pounds. Three 
hundred men, says Cortez, were employed to take 
care of those birds, besides their physicians, who 
observed their distempers and applied timely reme- 
dies to them. Of these three hundred men some 
procured them their food, others distributed it, 
others took care of their eggs at the time of their 
incubation, and others picked their plumage at cer- 
tain seasons of the year ; for, besides the pleasure 
which the king took in seeing so great a multitude 
of animals collected together, he was principally 
careful of their feathers, not less for the sake of 
the famous mosaic images, . . . than of the works 
which were made of them. The halls and cham- 
bers of those houses were so many in number, as 
the conqueror above mentioned attests, that they 
could have accommodated two great princes with 
all their retinue. This celebrated house was situ- 
ated in the place where at preaent the great Con- 
vent of St. Francis stands." * 

This description might be continued at consider- 
able length, but we pause here to remark that, in 

* Clavigero, vol. i, p. 282. 



The Moctezumas. 185 

the wonderful providence of God, on the very spot 
where stood this marvelous and extensive pleasure 
palace, and where later the Franciscan monks 
erected the magnificent convent which served them 
for over three hundred years, on this very spot, we 
repeat, to-day stands the handsome headquarters of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church in the land of 
Moctezuma. 

Just outside the city the emperor had magnif- 
icent gardens, such as Chapultepec, Penon, and 
other places, kept in exquisite order and neatness. 
In these, as well as in his palaces, gorgeous baths 
abounded, which were his daily delight. Four regal 
robes were donned every day and never used a 
second 'time, but handed down to the nobles or gal- 
lant soldiers who had distinguished themselves in 
battle. Goldsmiths, workers in mosaic sculptors, 
painters, and numerous other artists and artisans 
were kept constantly employed under his direction. 
He was attentive to the execution of law and order 
and an implacable enemy to idleness. Though 
arrogant and proud and excessively severe in pun- 
ishment, he constantly did many things to gain the 
love of his subjects. Among his more noble public 
works was the perfect equipment of Colhuacan as a 
grand asylum for the aged and infirm whose every 
want was supplied from the royal exchequer. Nor 



1 86 , Sketches of Mexico. 

was his zeal for religion less conspicuous than his 
other traits. He built several temples and was 
greatly devoted to their ceremonies, but at the same 
time his mind was perpetually enslaved by the fear 
of the auguries and pretended oracles of false divin- 
ities. Indeed, nearly every public event during 
the last days of Moctezumawas clothed with a mys- 
terious significance, *^ every unusual phenomenon of 
nature, every accident, every illness, every defeat 
in battle, failure of crops, excessive heat or cold, 
rain or snow, thunder and lightning, shooting star or 
comet, earthquake or eclipse, each and all portended 
evil to the Atzec empire — evil which some seem 
even at this time to have connected with the olden 
predictions of Quetzalcoatl respecting the coming 
of a foreign race to take possession of the country." 
Monarch, nobles, and priests seem to have been 
kept in a constant state of alarm. Part of this con- 
dition of things, as described by historians, is, 
doubtless, due to the superstitious minds of the 
people, and in part is the result of the inventive 
imagination of native historians, colored, perhaps, 
in after years, by the first Catholic fathers who vis- 
ited Mexico. 

It is also believed by some that rumors had 
reached the ears of Moctezuma and his com- 
panions of the presence of Europeans on the 



The Moctezumas. 187 

American coasts. The Spaniards were already in 
the Antilles, and Columbus had coasted Central 
America. Some knowledge of these facts had 
doubtless been carried by Aztec traders from the 
gulf to the table-lands. 

Among the mysterious omens recorded by his- 
torians, in all sobriety, were a great comet with 
three heads which appeared about 15 15, and ^' a 
wonderful pyramidal light" in the east, visible for 
forty days, similar to the aurora borealis. The 
King of Tezcoco was awed and subdued, but Moc- 
tezuma was so defiant and angry that Father 
Duran says he ** strangled many of his sorcerers for 
their unfavorable interpretation of the signs and 
their failure to avert evil omens." 

Soon after it is recorded that the '* towers of 
Huitzilopochtli's temple took fire in a clear night 
without apparent cause and were reduced to ashes." 
And another temple was struck by lightning. Tor- 
quemada, Clavigero, and Betancourt all declare that 
Moctezuma's sister, Papantzin,who had been spirited 
away, was believed by all to have risen from the 
dead and appeared to her royal brother with the 
story of a new and powerful people who were to 
possess the land and bring with them a new religion. 
The matter of religion was probably added by the 
^' ever truthful " Church writers. However, it is 



1 88 Sketches of Mexico. 

claimed that she survived the arrival of the Span- 
iards, and Clavigero says : " She was the first who 
in 1524 received the sacred baptism in Tlaltelolco, 
and was called from that time Dona Maria Papan- 
tzin."^ 

On the north side of the present city of Mexico, 
and about half a mile from our Mission quarters, 
stands a chaplet which marks the spot where the 
princess is said to have been baptized. 

Time and space beyond our control would be 
needed to give anything like an adequate account 
of the other nations and tribes outside the central 
plateau of Mexico. But these were so related, 
before and after the conquest, with affairs centering 
in Anahuac, that we deem the following picture, 
drawn by Mr. Bancroft, of things as they appeared 
in I 5 19, to be of interest and to show the most ex- 
traordinary combination of circumstances that made 
it possible for a small invading army to overthrow 
an immense aboriginal empire, and hence we repro- 
duce it : 

'' The power known as Aztec, since the formation 
of the tripartite alliance not quite a century before 
under the Acolhua, Mexican, and Tepanec kings, 
had gradually extended its iron grasp from its 
center about the lakes to the shores of either ocean ; 

* Clavigero, vol. i, p. 369. 



The Moctezumas. 189 

and this it had accomplished wholly by the force of 
arms, receiving no voluntary allegiance. 

'* Overburdened by taxation, oppressed and in- 
sulted by royal governors, Aztec tribute gatherers, 
and the traveling armies of Tlatelulca merchants, 
constantly attacked on frivolous pretexts by blood- 
thirsty hordes who ravaged their fields and carried 
away the flower of their population to perish on 
the Mexican altars, the inhabitants of each province 
subjected to this degrading bondage entertained 
toward the central government of the tyrants on 
the lakes feelings of the bitterest hatred and hostil- 
ity, only awaiting an opportunity to free them- 
selves, at least to annihilate their oppressors. Such 
was the condition of affairs and the state of feeling 
abroad ; at home the situation was more critical. 
The alliance which had been the strongest element 
of the Aztec power was now practically broken up ; 
the ambitious schemes of Moctezuma had alienated 
his firmest ally, and the stronger part of the Acol- 
hua force was openly arrayed against him under 
Ixtlilxochitl at Otompan, leagued with the Tlascal- 
tec leaders for the overthrov/ of the Mexican power. 
It is probable that the coming of the Spaniards re- 
tarded rather than precipitated the united attack of 
the Acolhuas and the outside provinces on Mocte- 
zuma. But again, to meet the gathering storm, 



1 90 Sketches of Mexico. 

the Mexican king could no longer count on the 
undivided support of his own people ; he had 
alienated the merchants, who no longer, as in 
the early days, did faithful duty as spies, nor 
toiled to enrich a government from which they 
could expect no rewards ; the lower classes no 
longer deemed their own interests identical with 
those of their sovereign. Last, but far from least 
among the elements of approaching ruin, was the 
religious sentiment of the country. The reader has 
followed the bitter contentions of earlier times in 
ToUan and Culhuacan, between the rival sects of 
Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca. With the growth 
of the Mexican influence the bloody rites of the lat- 
ter sect had prevailed under the auspices of the god 
Huitzilopochtli, and the worship of the gentler 
Quetzalcoatl, though still observed in many 
provinces and many temples, had, with its priests, 
been forced to occupy a secondary position. But 
the people were filled with terror at the horrible 
extent to which the latter kings had carried the 
immolation of human victims ; they were sick of 
blood and of the divinities that thirsted for it ; a 
reaction was experienced in favor of the rival deities 
and priesthood. 

"And now, just as the oppressed subjects of 
priestly tyranny were learning to remember with 



The Moctezumas. 191 

regret the peaceful teachings of the Plumed Serpent, 
and to look to that god for relief from their woes, 
their prayers were answered, Quetzalcoatl's predic- 
tions were apparently fulfilled, and his promised 
children made their appearance on the eastern 
ocean. The arrival of Cortez at this particular 
juncture was, in one sense, most marvelous ; but in 
his subsequent success there is little to be won- 
dered at ; nor is it strange that the oppressed 
Nahuas received almost with outstretched arms the 
ministers of the new faith thus offered them by the 
Spaniards." * 

Not only the people but the country, with its 
wonderful resources, had drawn attention, for it was 
a land with varied climates, producing between the 
hot coast lands and the frigid zone, nestling just be- 
neath the perpetual snow lines of mountains rising 
above theclouds, nearly every known fruit and cereal. 

From the time of the conquest down to 1880 
official records show that Mexican gold mines pro- 
duced $120,000,000, and the silver mines, $2,999,- 
000,000 making a total of $3,111,000,000 worth of 
these two precious metals. But if to this we could 
add what was smuggled out of the country, and 
then the iron, the copper, lead, and amber output, 
the opals, onyx, and other valuable stones, rich dye 

* Bancroft, vol. v, pp. 481, 482. 



192 Sketches of Mexico. 

and cabinet woods, and many other products, we 
would get some idea of the worth of the prize for 
for which Spain was striving. It must have been 
this anticipation which led Cortez, on landing for 
the first time on this western world, to say to the 
Governor of Cuba, who offered him an emigrant's 
portion of land, " I came to get gold, not to till the 
soil like a peasant." This golden inspiration, too, 
manifested itself again and again, and, in spite of 
the repeated protests of a few of the better Spanish 
friars like Las Casas, the worthy Bishop of Chiapas, 
survived in the great majority of the conquerors. 
The pulse of European life beat very high in those 
days. Its feverish character contributed to multi- 
ply adventurers by the score and hundreds. Indeed, 
the condition of things on the continent in the 
early part of the sixteenth century was responsible 
for the conquest. In order to refresh our minds, 
and at the same time to give an idea of the way 
Mexican authors look back upon the scene, let us 
quote from General Vicente Riva Palacios, at present 
Mexico's worthy ambassador to Spain. In the in- 
troduction to his portion of Mexico Through the 
Ages^ he speaks as follows of those times in Europe : 
** It was the age of combat of all against all. 
Religious, political, social, literary, and scientific 

* Vol. ii, p. 3. 



The Moctezumas. 193 

struggles ; discoveries and conquests of unknown 
lands ; reforms in customs, in legislation, in religion, 
in philosophy — all, all were attracted and attempted 
by that age which, by means of a convulsive and 
sanguinary evolution, prepared the geography of 
the world and the conditions of minds to receive 
the seeds of a modern civilization. 

" War covered the face of the old continent. 
Spain and France bathed in blood the plains of 
Pavia, where death, in the embrace of two conflict- 
ing armies, harvested the flower of the nobility 
that clustered about Francis I, armies impelled 
by the jealousies of two haughty and ambitious 
sovereigns, rather than by the love of country. 

'' Italy, the standard-bearer of civilization in 
Europe — Italy, with its poets and its politicians, its 
artists and its philosophers, shuddered sore and 
stricken under the severest revolutions that had 
clouded its history. . . . Meanwhile, the Repub- 
lican school arose in Venice, led by Durantino, 
Cantarini, and Garinberti, and minds tossed to and 
fro and consciences were stirred. Then the states- 
men and the warriors of Italy deployed their rhet- 
oric and their arms, alike active on both sides ; 
cities were captured by assault or by surprises, while 
foreign armies, with warlike movements, entered 
and left that classic land of art and history. 



194 Sketches of Mexico. 

" The struggle between the common classes and 
the troops of the Emperor Charles V shook 
the new and virile monarchy born of the happy 
union of the knightly Ferdinand and the noble and 
poetic 'Isabel the Catholic' . . . Noblemen wan- 
dered in terror through insurgent cities, while 
bishops sought refuge in the hospitals, as their 
palaces disappeared in smoke. 

'' The city of the Caesars was taken by assault. 
The soldiery of the Constable of Bourbon, like the 
Godos of Alaric, entered to plunder, and the pope 
became the prisoner of Charles V, who at the same 
time ordered that prayer be made throughout all 
Christendom for the fate of the chief of the Catho- 
lic Church. 

'' The first sparks flew from the flames of religious 
war about to desolate Europe. In the name of the 
liberty of the human conscience, and in defiance 
of the successors of St. Peter, Luther fastened to 
the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral his famous 
protest as a challenge, and from the Diet of Worms 
and the Confession of Augsburg rose the great edi- 
fice of religious reformation. Under the heat of 
that Reformation the Company of Jesus was born 
in the Catholic camp, and Henry VIII in England 
sealed with the blood of martyrs the birth of the An- 
glican Church, followed by the stakes fired in the 



The Moctezumas. 195 

Netherlands by the Duke of Alba and the frightful 
massacre of the night of St. Bartholomew. 

*' Zwingle overturned Switzerland, Cranmer revo- 
lutionized England, while Knox in Scotland, Calvin 
in France, and Gustav Wasa in Sweden changed the 
order of things. 

" From the fierce light that beat from that uni- 
versal conflagration the sciences and the arts rescued 
giants who well could have baptized the age with 
their glorious names, had it not been the age of 
Charles V and Philip II, Luther and St. Igna- 
tius de Loyola, Cortez and Don Juan of Austria — 
had the age not given birth to the conquest of 
America and to religious wars. However, therefrom 
irradiate the luminous faces of Raphael and Michael 
Angelo, Ariosto and Ulrich, Copernicus and Eras- 
mus, Cardano and Tartaglia, Macchiavelli and 
Rabelais, Camden, Tasso and Cervantes, Shakes- 
peare and Ercilla, Galileo, Kepler, and Bacon. 

" Across that age of revolution, across that his- 
toric period, carrying upon his shoulders the terri- 
ble weight of two worlds, swept the son of Crazy 
Jane, the Emperor Charles V, probably the most 
powerful monarch that ever ruled in this world. 
Struggling with difficulties, which seemed insur- 
mountable, in order to clasp the crown of Castile 
and Aragon, that young monarch, who reached 



196 Sketches of Mexico. 

Spain almost a pretender, in a few years filled with 
his name a whole age and two worlds, introducing 
a great political revolution on earth ; and under the 
sweeping shadow of his banners and among the tur- 
moil of arms planting the germs of great nationali- 
ties which should in future divide up the world. 

" The standards of the emperor floated trium- 
phantly in Europe and in Asia, in Africa and in 
America. Before him bent obsequient alike the 
inhabitants of the Antilles and the haughty Span- 
ish magnates, the keen Italian princes and the 
superb German lords. Among the captives were 
the Roman Pontiff, the King of France and the King 
of Navarre, the emperors of Mexico and of Peru, 
Muley-Azen, King of Tunis, and many of the New 
World sovereigns. The fate of the nations of both 
continents hung upon his decision, for one word 
from him sufficed to draw the swords of his great 
captains. When, wearied of glory and of struggle, 
of triumph and of disenchantment, he sought in the 
retirement of a cloistered cell a peace impossible to 
woo, he left upon the throne of Spain, like the 
haunting specter of his past glory and genius, the 
somber Philip II, upon whose domain the sun 
could not set, and who by artful and mysterious di- 
plomacy sought to strengthen the conquests of his 
father, while on the fields of battle the descendants 



The Moctezumas. 197 

of the Prophet of Mecca had torn from them even 
the hope of resumption of influence in Europe, while 
this monarch calmed the fears of terrorized Chris- 
tianity, which had seen the crescent creep up over the 
city walls of Constantinople, that city consecrated 
by the sublime death of the last Constantine. 

" In that great age, the age of stupendous 
achievements, the kings of Spain acquired by right 
of conquest, consecrated by Alexander VI, the rich 
and fertile dominions which in the world of Colum- 
bus received, by the will and word of Hernan Cor- 
tez, the name of New Spain." * 

* The lecturei" exhibited one of the first copies, in Latin, of the 
Bull of Alexander VI, by which he divided the western hemisphere 
between the Spanish and Portuguese. It is dated May 3, 1492. 

14 



LECTURE VI. 



THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS. 



LECTURE VI. 
THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS. 

HERNAN CORTEZ is regarded as the central 
figure of the Spanish conquest. True, other 
Spaniards had preceded him in the discovery of 
Mexico, but they had only coasted the gulf and 
never penetrated inland to any great " distance. 
This real conqueror was born at Medellin, in the 
Province of Estremadura, Spain, in 1483 — though 
Pizarro y Orellana, a zealous historian of the 
Church, publishes the remarkable coincidence '* that 
Cortez came into the world the same day that that 
infernal beast, the false heretic, Luther, entered it.'* 
Mendieta says : " The same year that Luther was 
born in Eisleben, Hernan Cortez was born in Me- 
dellin, the first to disturb the world and put under the 
devil's banner many faithful ones whose fathers and 
grandfathers for long years were Catholics, and the 
second to bring into the pale of the Church infinite 
multitudes who for numberless years had been under 
the power of Satan wrapped up in vice and blind with 
idolatry." This would fix his birth in 1483, two years 
earlier than the more reliable historians give it. 



202 Sketches of Mexico. 

Gomera, in his History of Mexico, page 4, tells 
us that Hernan was a sickly child, and would proba- 
bly have died had not his faithful nurse, Maria de 
Estevan, secured the special protection of St. 
Peter in his behalf. It seems that, characteristic of 
the times, she drew lots from among the twelve 
apostles. The choice falling upon St. Peter she 
made him the patron saint of the youthful invalid, 
to whom she then offered special " masses and 
prayers, by which it pleased God to heal him." 

Cortez's parents designed that he should study 
law, and for this purpose he went to Salamanca, a 
Spanish university of great renown. But student 
life did not fill the requirements of his restless spirit. 
After two years he returned to Medellin, devoting 
himself to sports and martial exercises. He became 
so impetuous, overbearing, and dissipated that his 
parents gladly consented to his going abroad as an 
adventurer. His first inclination was to go to 
Italy. But an illness resultant upon dissipation 
kept him bedridden till after the sailing of an ex- 
pedition in which he had enlisted. His thoughts 
next turned to Hispaniola, where Ovando, a rela- 
tive of his, was governor. He reached Santo Do- 
mingo in 1504, a youth of nineteen summers. The 
white dove spoken of by Prescott as lighting on 
the topmast of his vessel just prior to sighting land, 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 203 

Pizarro y Orellana says was the Holy Spirit, which 
appeared in this form to guide an expedition " which 
was to redound so much to the spread of the Cath- 
oHc faith and the CastiHan monarchy."* 

His reception by the governor was cordial, and 
he immediately received lucrative employment, but 
not sufficient to satisfy his ambition. Seven years 
later he accompanied Diego Velasquez to Cuba, 
where new employments and land grants soon 
made him a fortune. Though up to this time he 
had occupied comparatively humble positions in 
government service, still he had, as Robertson says, 
*' displayed such qualities in several scenes of diffi- 
culty and danger as raised universal expectation, 
and turned the eyes of his countrymen toward him 
as one capable of performing great things. The 
turbulence of youth, as soon as he found objects 
and occupations suited to the ardor of his mind, 
gradually subsided, and settled into a habit of regu- 
lar indefatigable activity. The impetuosity of his 
temper, when lie came to act with his equals, insen- 
sibly abated, by being kept under restraint, and 
mellowed into a cordial, soldierly frankness. These 
qualities were accompanied with calm prudence in 
concerting his schemes, with persevering vigor in 
executing them, and with, what is peculiar to su- 

. * Varones /lustres, p. 70. 



204 Sketches of Mexico. 

perior genius, the art of gaining the confidence and 
governing the minds of men ; to all which were 
added the inferior accomplishments that strike the 
vulgar and command their respect ; a graceful per- 
son, a winning aspect, extraordinary address in mar- 
tial exercises, and a constitution of such vigor as to 
be capable of enduring any fatigue." "^ 

However, the young hero of the Spanish con- 
quest had his weaknesses, and his career from that 
time to the final departure for Mexico was very 
checkered. A succession of difficulties with the 
lieutenant governor of Cuba resulted in his impris- 
onment, his escape, his second imprisonment, and 
his second escape. Finally, he effected a complete 
and permanent reconciliation, making a thrilling 
tale for both Prescott and Bancroft. 

Cordova and Grijalva anticipated Cortez in reach- 
ing the Mexican shores, and though inferior in talents 
and fame to him, they were his superiors in honesty. 
Whether Velasquez knew this or not, as he in- 
structed Cortez " to observe a conduct befitting a 
Christian soldier," is not stated. But subsequent 
events prove how lightly his instructions rested on 
his heart and conscience, while his love of gold 
never left him. 

Cortez was also instructed to prohibit blasphemy, 

''? Robertson's Anwrica, p. igS. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 205 

licentiousness, and gambling among his men, and on 
no account to molest the natives, " but gently to 
inform them of the glory of God and of the Catholic 
kincr.* But Mohammed himself was not more cruel 
and relentless with his interlaced Koran and scim- 
iter than was Cortez with the cross of Christ and 
sword of Toledo. A black banner of velvet, em- 
broidered with the royal arms of Spain in gold, with 
blue and white flames surrounding a red cross, was 
made for the expedition, and upon it was inscribed 
the following: '' Amici sequamiir crucem, si nos ha- 
buerimus fidem in hoc signo vincemus" — "Friends, 
let us follow the cross, and under this sign, if we have 
faith, we shall conquer." f How^ different a transla- 
tion did the great Constantine give to the heavenly 
vision, " In hoc signo vinces," and yet the oppor- 
tunity was far greater for Cortez than for the first 
Christian emperor of Rome. . Passing muster it 
was found that the expedition to Mexico contained 
15 vessels, no mariners, 553 soldiers, 200 Indians 
from the island, several servant women, and 16 
horses. 

Cortez addressed his men in the following theat- 
rical fashion : " I hold out to you a glorious prize, 
but it is to be won by incessant toil. Great things 

* Bancroft's IVorks, vol. ix, p. 54. 
f Prescott, vol. i, p. 118. 



2o6 Sketches of Mexico. 

are achieved only by great exertions, and glory 
was never the reward of sloth. If I have labored 
hard and staked my all in this undertaking, it is for 
the love of that renown which is the noblest recom- 
pense of man. But if any among you covet riches 
more, be true to me, and I will be true to you and 
to the occasion, and I will make you masters of 
such as our countrymen have never dreamed of. 
You are few in number but strong in resolution ; 
and, if this does not falter, doubt not but that the 
Almighty, who has never deserted the Spaniard in 
his contest with the unbeliever, will shield you, 
though encompassed by a cloud of enemies ; for 
your cause is a just cause, and you are to fight 
under the banner of tKe cross. Go forward, then, 
with alacrity and confidence, and carry to a glorious 
issue the work so auspiciously begun." * Mass was 
said, the fleet was placed under the protection of 
St. Peter, the patron saint of Cortez, and they set 
sail on the i6th of February, 1 5 19, to conquer an 
unknown people, and in doing so to write some of 
the bloodiest pages ever written in human history. 
At the very outset of the conquest we find our- 
selves embarrassed by the greatly exaggerated'chron- 
icles of Spanish historians. For instance, after a 
short stop at the island of Cozumel, Cortez coasted 

* Prescolt, vol. i, p. 20. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 207 

along the shore of Yucatan and crossed the arm of 
the gulf until he entered the Tabasco River. There 
he landed on a little island called Punta de los 
Palmares. The natives resented their landing and 
a battle ensued. When we remember that Cortez 
only had a few hundred men in this expedition, it 
certainly seems strange to see Bernal Diaz claim 
that eight hundred Indians were killed in the first 
engagement, while Torquemada claims that one 
thousand fell. Cortez in his official dispatches says 
that forty thousand natives were drawn up in battle, 
and Bishop Las Casas gives thirty thousand souls 
as the modest number '' cruelly slaughtered," and 
all this in a few hours by about five hundred 
Spaniards fighting under the disadvantages of a 
difficult landing and excessive tropical heat. This 
same spirit of exaggeration runs, through the entire 
story of the conquest as writt^ii-by the Spaniards. 
Unfortunately it has often misled our own flowery 
and enchanting Prescott. 

It was at this time that Cortez manifested one of 
those memorable traits which so frequently charac- 
terized him in his relations to the people whom he 
had professedly come to Christianize. After the 
battle the bewildered natives sued for peace, and 
their overtures were accompanied by a propitiatory 
offering. To the first ambassadors Cortez answered 



2o8 vSketches of Mexico. 

with the following haughty reprimand : " Tell your 
master if he desires peace he must sue for it, and 
not send slaves." Next came an embassy of forty 
chiefs richly clad and walking in stately procession, 
followed by a file of slaves bearing presents. Bow- 
ing low ** before the bearded assembly, and swinging 
before them the censer in token of reverence, the 
ambassador implored pardon and proffered submis- 
sion. * The blame is all your own,* said Cortez, 
wdth severity. The Indians acquiesced, though it 
puzzled them to know why they were to blame. 
Cortez informed them that the great king, his mas- 
ter, had sent him to scatter blessings, if they were 
found deserving ; if not, to let loose upon them the 
caged lightning and the thunder which they carried. 
Whereat the gun charged for the occasion was fired, 
and the noise reverberated over the hills, the ball 
went crashing through the trees, the Indians fell 
prostrate with fear, and the noble Europeans were 
proud of their superiority." ^' This was but a sample 
of the tricks played upon the untutored Indian by 
these worthy Christian conquerors. 

The natives were subdued, and, as the conquerors 
found that there was but little gold to demand, the 
precious metal being further inland, they proceeded 
to expound the doctrines of their faith, ** to lay be- 

* Bancroft's Works, vol. ix, p. 91. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 209 

fore them the truths of the Gospel they had come 
so far to bring." An altar was erected in the 
heathen temple, and on it a huge cross. Father 
Olmedo preached through an interpreter named 
Aguilar, who had been cast years before on the 
Yucatan coast, and the first converts from among 
the natives of New Spain were baptized, consisting 
of twenty female slaves, all of whom remained in 
the camp of the officers. One of these '' was a 
young girl about eighteen years of age, of noble 
birth, beauty, quick genius, and great spirit.". Jeal- 
ousy, resulting from a second marriage, had caused 
her mother to cast her out, and when she grew up 
she was sold to the Tabascans. On being baptized 
she received the name of Marina, and accompanied 
Cortez on all his expeditions. She spoke two na- 
tive languages and soon acquired the Spanish, thus 
making herself invaluable to the conqueror. 

The Spanish fleet pushed on still in search of 
gold and glory. A few days later they anchored 
in the port of San Juan Ulua, known in modern 
times by the name of Vera Cruz. The brief visits 
of Grijalva to the Mexican coast a year prior had 
been communicated to the Emperor Moctezuma. 
Full of fear and anxiety he had determined, if pos- 
sible, to prevent the coming of the " sons of Quet- 
zalcoatl " to usurp his kingdom. He thought to 



2IO Sketches of Mexico. 

do this In a diplomatic way. Hardly had the Span- 
ish fleet entered the port when little canoes were 
seen putting out from shore. An embassy from the 
Aztec empire was reported as in waiting to extend 
to them a welcome. The following Sunday (Easter) 
Cortezwas on shore, and entertainedthe embassy with 
the greatest pomp possible. He explained to them 
that he was the subject of Don Carlos of Austria, 
the greatest king of the East, whose bounty, gran- 
deur, and power he extolled with most magnificent 
praises, and added that '' this great monarch, know- 
ing of that land and the lord who reigned there, 
sent him to make him a visit in his name, and to 
communicate to him in person some affairs of great 
importance, and that, therefore, he would be glad 
to know when it would please their lord to hear 
his embassy." ^ 

Moctezuma's minister, not to be outdone in diplo- 
macy, replied: *'I have listened with pleasure to 
what you have told me concerning the grandeur 
and bounty of your sovereign, but know that our 
king is not less bountiful and great ; I rather wonder 
that there should exist another in the world more 
powerful than he ; but as you assert it I will make it 
known to my sovereign, from whose goodness I trust 
that he will not only have pleasure in receiving in- 

*Clavigero, vol. ii, p. 280. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 211 

telligence of that great prince, but will likewise do 
honor to his ambassador. Accept, in the mean- 
time, this present which I offer you in his name." 

The Aztec ambassador then directed the slaves 
" to lay down the presents ; among them were 
thirty bales of cotton fabrics, from gauzy curtains 
to heavy robes, white, colored, plain, and figured, 
interwoven with fantastic feathers or embroidered 
with gold and silver thread ; humming-bird feath- 
ers and beautiful plumes of all colors, embroidered 
sandals, and marcasite mirrors. All these, however, 
were trifles beside the gold, the bright, glittering 
gold and the silver which were not disclosed. First 
there was a disk of the yellow metal, representing 
the sun with its rays, as large as a carriage wheel, 
ten spans in diameter, ornamented in semi-relief, 
and valued at thirty-eight hundred pesos de oro. 
A companion disk of solid silver, of the same size, 
and equally ornamented, represented the moon. 
Then there were thirty golden ducks, well fash- 
ioned ; a number of other pieces in form of dogs, 
lions, monkeys, and other animals ; ten collars, a 
necklace, with over one hundred pendant stones, 
called emetalds and rubies by the Spaniards ; twelve 
arrows, a bow wdth cord stretched, two staves, each 
five palms in length ; fans, bracelets, and other 
pieces, all of fine gold, besides a number of silver. 



212 Sketches of Mexico. 

What could have delighted the Spaniards more? 
One thing only, and that was not wanting — the 
gilt helmet returned full of virgin gold, fine dust 
and coarse, with a plentiful mixture of nuggets of 
various sizes and shapes, all fresh from the placers. 
The value of these was three thousand pesos, and 
appreciation was attracted not so much by the 
amount as by the significance of the gift, as Bernal 
Diaz remarks, for it afforded a sure indication of 
the existence of rich mines in the country. Bras- 
seur de Bourbourg estimated the gold disk alone 
as worth 357,380 francs, or $70,000. Doubtless, as 
Torquemada says, it was this gift which finally cost 
Moctezuma his head, for after these rich samples 
the hardships and dangers of the road were less 
than ever to Cortez. He is reported to have sent 
a message to Moctezuma that he and his compan- 
ions had a complaint, ' a disease of the heart, which 
is cured by gold.' " ^ 

This same disease afflicted him on many occa- 
sions, especially when he committed that fearful 
crime of burning the feet of Cuatemoctzin and his 
nephew, as referred to in our first lecture — a crime 
that will forever stain the records of the conquest. 
Repeated messages and additional presents from 
Moctezuma to Cortez and his king were only so 
Helps's Life of Cortez^ vol. i, p. 56. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 213 

much fuel to the fire of the conqueror's greed. 
If he ever vacillated about reaching Moctezuma's 
capital it was not after receiving the second em- 
bassy with their precious freight of gems, various 
works of gold, and ten bales of most curious robes 
of feathers. Still later Moctezuma made another 
present to Cortez, of which, in July, 15 19, he sent 
the following to Charles V : 

" Two wheels ten hands in diameter, one in gold 
with the image of the sun, and the other of silver with 
the image of the moon upon it ; both formed of plates 
of these metals, with different figures of animals and 
other things in basso-relievo^ finished with great in- 
genuity and art. A gold necklace, composed of 
seven pieces, with one hundred and eighty-three 
small emeralds set in it, and two hundred and 
thirty-two gems similar to small rubies, from which 
hung twenty-seven little bells of gold and some 
pearls. Another necklace of four pieces of gold, 
with one hundred and two red gems like small 
rubies, one hundred and seventy-two emeralds, and 
ten fine pearls set in, with twenty-six little bells of 
gold, A head-piece of wood covered with gold and 
adorned with gems, from which hung twenty-five 
little bells of gold ; instead of a plume it had a green 
bird with eyes, beak, and feet of gold. A bracelet 

of gold. A little rod like a scepter, with two rings 
15 



214 Sketches of Mexico. 

of gold at its extremities, set with pearls. Four tri- 
dents, adorned with feathers of various colors, with 
pearl points tied with gold thread. Several shoes 
of the skin of the deer, sewed with gold thread, the 
soles of which were made of blue and white stone of 
Itztli, extremely thin. A shield of wood and leather, 
with little bells hanging to it and covered with plates 
of gold in the middle, on which was cut the image 
of the god of war between four heads of a lion, a 
tiger, an eagle, and an owl, represented alive with 
their hair and feathers. Several dressed skins of 
quadrupeds and birds with their plumage and hair. 
Twenty-four curious and beautiful shields of gold, 
of feathers and silver only. Four fishes, two ducks, 
and some other birds of cast gold. Two seashells 
of gold and a large crocodile girt with threads of gold. 
A large mirror adorned with gold, and many small 
mirrors. Several miters and crowns of feathers and 
gold, ornamented with pearls and gems. Several 
large plumes of beautiful feathers of various colors 
fretted with gold and small pearls. Several fans of 
gold and feathers mixed together ; others of feath- 
ers only, of different forms and sizes, but all most 
rich and elegant. A variety of cotton mantles, 
some all white, others checkered with white and 
black or red, green, yellow, and blue, on the outside 
rough like a shaggy cloth and without color or nap. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 215 

A number of under waistcoats, handkerchiefs, 
counterpanes, tapestries, and carpets of cotton. 
All these articles were, according to Gomara, * more 
valuable for the workmanship than the material. 
The colors,' he says, ' of the cotton were extremely- 
fine, and those of the feathers natural. Their works 
of cast metal are not to be compared by our gold- 
smiths.'"* 

This was the first gold and the first silver sent 
from New to Old Spain — a small presage of the im- 
mense treasures to be sent in the future, and valued 
at hundreds of millions in gold. 

An invitation to visit Cempoala, twenty-four 
miles inland, was readily accepted by Cortez, espe- 
cially as he hoped to make its thousands of inhab- 
itants his allies before marching on toward the un- 
known and the mysterious nations hidden in the 
interior. Lured onward, they found Cempoala to 
be a beautiful city of from twenty to thirty thou- 
sand, according to Las Casas, but according to Tor- 
quemada many times larger. They were received 
in a most friendly way, " reveling in fruits and 
flowers," while a garland, chiefly of roses, was flung 
around the neck of Cortez, and a beautiful wreath 
placed upon his helmet. Chicomacatl, lord of the 
province, was not only cordial but communicative, 
* Bancroft's Worksy vol, ix, p. 129. 



2i6 Sketches of Mexico. 

and, besides securing him fifty thousand Totonacs 
as friendly allies, he gave to Cortez a historic out- 
line of the Aztecs and all the information which he so 
much needed. Cortez then proceeded to manifest 
his appreciation of all by a novel and wholesale 
transfer of the entire kingdom of Cempoala into 
the '' kingdom of grace." 

In the center of the beautiful city stood the tem- 
ple wherein they and their fathers had worshiped 
for centuries. Of all it was to them the dearest and 
most sacred spot on earth. But Cortez determined 
that it must be converted into a Christian temple. 
So the soldiers were drawn up in a cordon around 
the temple, the cannon, with their concentrated 
thunder and lightning, were made ready, and the 
following grandiloquent address delivered by Cor- 
tez : " Courage, soldiers ; now is the time to show 
that we are Spaniards, and that we have inherited 
from our ancestors an ardent zeal for our holy reli- 
gion. Let us break the idols, and take from the 
sight of those unbelievers such vile incentives to 
their superstition."* The cacique (lord) of Cem- 
poala made a sign to his people to prepare for the 
defense of their gods. But Cortez quietly informed 
him that if any should raise a finger against the 
Spaniards these would charge upon them with such 

* Clavigero, vol. ii, book viii. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 217 

fury that they would not leave a native alive among 
them. Thereupon fifty soldiers mounted into the 
temple and cast every idol down the stairs, while 
the natives stood paralyzed. Clavigero adds : " After 
this daring act, where prudence was blinded by en- 
thusiasm, Cortez commanded the priests to bring 
the fragments of the idols before him and throw 
them into a fire. He was immediately obeyed, 
upon which, being full of joy and triumph, as if 
by breaking the idols he had entirely banished 
idolatry and superstition from those people, he told 
their chief he was now willing to accept the eight 
virgins which had been offered him ; that from 
that time he would consider the Totonacs as his 
friends and brothers, and in all their exigencies 
would assist them against their enemies ; that as 
they could never more adore those detestable 
images of the demon, their enemy, he would place 
in the same temple an image of the true mother of 
God, that they might worship and implore her pro- 
tection in all their necessities. He then expatiated 
in a long discourse upon the sanctity of the Chris- 
tian religion ; after which he ordered the Cempo- 
alese masons to cleanse the walls of the temples of 
those disgustful stains of human blood which they 
preserved there as trophies of their religion, and to 
polish and whiten them. He caused an altar to be 



2i8 Sketches of Mexico. 

made after the mode of Christians, and placed the 
image of the most holy Mary there." * 

This was but a repetition of the conduct of the 
conquerors in the island of Cozumel, where, only a 
few weeks before, the two missionaries had vainly 
labored to persuade the people to destroy their 
idols and embrace the true faith. They failed. But, 
as Prescott remarks, " Cortez was probably not much 
of a polemic. At all events, he preferred on the 
present occasion action to argument, and thought 
the best way to convince the Indians of their error 
was to prove the falsehood of the prediction," f that 
is, that the gods would punish the proposed dese- 
cration. '' He accordingly, without further cere- 
mony, caused the venerated images to be rolled 
down the stairs of the great temple amid the groans 
and lamentations of the natives. An altar was has- 
tily constructed, an image of the Virgin and Child 
placed over it, and mass was performed by Father 
Olmedo and his reverend companion for the first 
time within the walls of a temple in New Spain." ^ 
The ministers tried to pour the light of their Gospel 
into the benighted understandings of the islanders, 
and to expound the mysteries of the Catholic faith. 
The Indian interpreter must have afforded rather 

* Book viii. f Conqtiest, vol. i, p. 124. 

\ Discoverers of Mexico, Aguilar, p. 124. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 219 

a dubious channel for the transmission of such ab- 
struse doctrines. But at length they found favor 
with their auditors, who, whether overawed by the 
bold bearing of the invaders or convinced of the 
impotence of deities that could not shield their own 
shrines from violation, consented to embrace Chris- 
tianity. And this was his line of conduct through- 
out. Strange way was this of doing missionary 
work and Christianizing the natives. But such a 
course has left its legitimate fruits — fruits seen all 
over Mexico to this very day. So that the great 
Humboldt, visiting Mexico three hundred years 
later, wrote : '' The introduction of the Romish re- 
ligion had no other effect upon the Mexicans than 
to substitute ceremonies and symbols for the rites of 
a sanguinary worship. Dogma has not succeeded 
dogma, but only ceremony to ceremony. I have 
seen them, marked and adorned with tinkling bells, 
perform savage dances around the altar while a 
monk of St. Francis elevated the host." 

Dr. Gorham D. Abbott, some years later, sums up 
his observations thus: ''Christianity, instead of ful- 
filling its mission of enlightening, converting, and 
sanctifying the natives, was itself converted. Pagan- 
ism was baptized, Christianity paganized." 

The author of Mexico in Transition forcibly adds : 
" The Christianization of such a mass of humanity 



520 Sketches of Mexico. 

by a mere handful of military adventurers and their 
few clerical helpers, by the offhand methods which 
they employed, frequently at the sword's point, is 
an awful part of the record that has come down to 
us. The world never before witnessed any such 
process as they adopted in Christianizing those 
whom their cruelty spared." * 

It is refreshing, indeed, to find one, if only one, 
among the companions of Cortez protesting against 
this wholesale and flimsy process of conversion. 
The protester was Father Las Casas, who insisted 
on ''the futility of these forced conversions, by 
which it was proposed in a few days to wean men 
from the idolatry which they had been taught to 
reverence from the cradle. The only way of do- 
ing this," the good bishop said, " is by long, assidu- 
ous, and faithful preaching, until the heathen shall 
gather some ideas of the true nature of the Deity 
and of the doctrines they are to embrace. Above 
all, the lives of the Christians should be such as to 
exemplify the truth of these doctrines, that seeing 
this the poor Indian may glorify the Father and 
acknowledge him who has such worshipers for the 
true and only God." f He, of all others who came 
with the conquerors, had a right thus to talk. Such 
was his true apostolic spirit, such his faithful work 

*Page lo, f Quoted by Dr. Kirk in Lippincott's Prescott. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 221 

for the poor Indian, and such his upright Hfe, that 
to this day his name is not only carried by one of 
the States of the Mexican republic, but is held in 
sacred remembrance by multitudes who look upon 
him as an exception to the ruinous rule of colonial 
times and tyrants. 

Happy the leader who can turn the disaffection 
of his men to his own advantage. The excessive 
heat, barren coasts, annoying insects, bilious fevers, 
and days of idleness were enough to create dissatis- 
faction in the camp, and a clamor was raised favor- 
ing a speedy return to Cuba. This was no doubt 
fomented by personal followers of Velasquez, the 
lieutenant governor of the island, and of whom 
Cortez had reason to be apprehensive, especially in 
view of his (Velasquez) efforts to misrepresent him 
before Charles V, who had recently come to the 
Spanish throne. But this proved to be Cortez 's 
hour — an hour, too, for which he had doubtless 
longed. Gold was coming in too rapidly, land and 
peoples were being conquered apace. What if all 
this should belong to Velasquez ? When, however, 
the rebellion in the camp came he appeared willing 
to return to Cuba, and actually ordered an embar- 
cation. But then the men were not ready to go. 
Hence another course was decided upon. A colony 
should be founded, a government should be estab- 



222 Sketches of Mexico. 

lished. This accomplished, he laid his commission 
upon the table before the thus '' duly constituted 
authorities, and retired from the assembly." He 
was absent but a short time when, on being called 
in, he was informed of the fact that " they had 
unanimously named him, in behalf of their Catholic 
Highness, Captain General and Chief Justice of the 
Colony." He had played his part diplomatically 
and boldly, and henceforth was responsible for his 
conduct to the king and queen at Madrid, and not 
to their lieutenant at Cuba. From this on one fifth 
of all the gold and silver obtained by commerce or 
conquest became his personal right. Clothed w^ith 
supreme civil and military jurisdiction Cortez was 
not backward in asserting his authority. The mal- 
contents, even the three who had a few days before 
been reduced to chains, accepted the situation and, 
indeed, ere long became devoted partisans of Cortez. 
He was supreme master of the situation, at least 
for the time. A pompous dispatch was sent by 
special envoy to Spain (the original of which is pre- 
served in the Imperial Library at Vienna), and New 
Spain was thus, by the fiat of one bold man, 
launched on the sea of nations, a sea tempestuous 
enough in succeeding centuries. 

A second conspiracy served to make the leader 
bolder than ever. The two ringleaders were hung, 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 223 

though it is said that Cortez, when signing their 
death warrants, like Nero of old, was heard to ex- 
claim, '^ Would that I had never learned to write ! " 
Something had to be done and done quickly for- 
ever to suppress these disturbances, and Cortez 
secretly resolved what that something should be. 
They were at Cempoala, a short distance inland, so 
the soldiers could see and know nothing till it was 
all over. The something upon which he resolved 
was to destroy the ships and thus cut off all possi- 
bility of return to Cuba. Under the pretext that 
the vessels were injured by storms and also by a 
water insect known to be mischievously active in 
those tropical seas, five, and, later on, four more 
ships were sunk, leaving but one small vessel afloat. 
After reaching this conclusion in his own mind 
he next sought to carry with him, if possible, the 
conviction of his men. Here again he was equal to 
the occasion. The first reports had only enraged 
the crowd, and they declared themselves betrayed, 
and being *' led as lambs to the slaughter." *' For 
shame ! be men ! " he cried. *' You should know 
ere this how vain are the attempts to thwart my 
purpose. Look on this magnificent land, with its 
vast treasures, and narrow not your vision to your 
insignificant selves. Think of your glorious reward 
present and to come, and trust in God, who, if it so 



224 Sketches of Mexico. 

please him, can conquer this empire with a single 
arm. Yet, if there be one here still so craven as to 
wish to turn his back on the glories and advantages 
thus offered ; if there be one here so base, so recre- 
ant to heaven, to his king, to his comrades, as to 
shrink from such honorable duty, in God's name let 
him go. There is one ship left, which I will equip 
at my own charge, and leave to that man the im- 
mortal infamy he deserves." * 

His impassioned and nervous eloquence had the 
desired effect. Cortez knew his men as the good 
musician knows his instrument. Cheer after cheer 
rent the air, and when at last came a lull he qui- 
etly asked, *' Would it not be well to destroy the 
remaining vessel and so make a safe, clean thing of 
it?" hearty approval was given, and again the air 
was rent with cries ; but this time all united in ex- 
claiming, " To Mexico ! To Mexico ! " 

''Thus," as Robertson says, " from an effort of 
magnanimity, to which there is nothing parallel in 
history, five hundred men voluntarily consented to 
be shut up in a hostile country filled with powerful 
and unknown nations, and, having precluded any 
means of escape, left themselves without any re- 
source but their own valor and perseverance." f 

* Bancroft's lVo7-ks, vol. ix, p. 184. 
\ America, p. 211. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 225 

Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire^ cites the case of Julian, who, in his un- 
fortunate Assyrian invasion, burnt the fleet which 
had carried him up the Tigris. But the historian 
shows that the fleet would have actually proven a 
hindrance rather than a help, so that we think 
Robertson's language cannot be regarded as ex- 
travagant when he declares Cortez's conduct *' with- 
out a parallel in history." 

"To success or total destruction now we march, 
for there is open to us no retreat !" again cried 
Cortez. *' In Christ we trust, and on our arms rely, 
and, though few in numbers, our hearts are strong." * 

"We are ready to obey you," came back the 
ready answer from hundreds of voices. " Our 
fortunes, for better or worse, are cast with yours." f 

On the i6th of August, 1521, four hundred and 
fifty Spanish soldiers, with fifteen horses and six or 
seven light cannon, and a considerable number of 
friendly Indians and Cubans, with about thirteen 
hundred Totonacs, started up the steep Cordilleras, 
determined, as Cortez is reported to have said, " to 
tread the streets of the Mexican capital before he 
entered the gates of the celestial city." Following 
the advice of the Totonacs they chose their route 
through Tlaxcala, as these people were not only 

♦Bancroft, vol. ix, p. 191. f Prescott, vol. i, p. 176. 



226 Sketches of Mexico. _ 

friendly to the Totonacs, but ancient and deadly 
enemies to the Mexicans. The story of their 
march, their engagement with the Tlaxcalans under 
the valiant Xicotencatl, the subsequent declaration 
of peace and final alliance with these brave people, 
is magnificently told by the florid Prescott, the 
enchanting Clavigero, the prolific Bancroft, and 
others to whom we might refer. But we hasten to 
the end of the story. We pause, however, to re- 
mark that Cortez in his dispatches compared the city 
of Tlaxcala to Granada, saying that it was larger, 
stronger, and more populous than the Moorish 
capital at the time of the conquest.* 

The little republic of Tlaxcala is said to have 
contained about half a million of people, one tenth 
of whom at least were under arms. And yet, after 
three battles of more or less severity, this handful 
of Spanish invaders were masters of the situation. 
It has always been a wonder that such a small num- 
ber of men could have prevailed against such multi- 
tudes. There are a few simple reasons : 

1. The natives were strangers to military order 
and discipline. 

2. The imperfection of their weapons was against 
them. These consisted of slings, bows, and 
arrows, spears, sticks hardened in fire, swords of 

* Clavigero, p, 323. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 227 

wood, and war clubs. Destructive enough were 
they among naked Indians, but most of them were 
of small avail against Spanish bucklers and quilted 
jackets. 

3. The natives lost in a great measure the 
strength they might have derived from superior 
numbers by their constant solicitude to carry off 
the dead and wounded, even during the thick of the 
combat, to prevent their being devoured by the 
enemy. 

There was a strange barbarous generosity among 
the natives. For instance, the Tlaxcalans advised 
the Spaniards of their hostile intentions, and sup- 
posing the invaders to be without provisions sent 
supplies of '' poultry and maize" into their camp, 
and Herrera and Gomara further declare that " they 
desired them to eat plentifully, because they scorned 
to attack an enemy enfeebled by hunger, and it 
would be an affront to their gods to offer them 
famished victims, as well as disagreeable to feed on 
such emaciated prey." ^ 

No wonder the Spaniards triumphed in Mexico. 
One of the most cruel deeds of the conquest was 
committed in Tlaxcala. Fifty spies were captured 
in the Spanish camp. Cortez, to show the superior 
power of the Christian soldiers, ordered both hands 

* Quoted by Robertson, p. 214. 



228 Sketches of Mexico. 

of the fifty Indians chopped off, and thus maimed 
they returned to their side of the Hne. 

Soon after this the intrepid conqueror had the 
audacity to demand, with sword in hand, of the 
TIaxcalans that, as a nation, they be baptized and 
accept Christianity. Indeed, but for the advice of 
Father Olmedo, he might have compelled them 
to do so. For Cortez certainly belonged to the 
Church militant, spoken of by the English poet : 

" Such as do build their faith upon 
The holy text of pike and gun, 
And prove their doctrines orthodox 
By apostolic blows and knocks." 

No wonder, after all this, that as Cortez tried to 
insist upon the casting down of the idols and the 
substitution of his emblems of religion, that the 
TIaxcalans replied they were willing to give the God 
of the Christians a place among the divinities of 
Tlaxcala. They were willing under threat to please 
their friend Cortez, especially since " their polytheis- 
tic system, like that of the ancient Greeks, was of 
that accommodating kind which could admit within 
its elastic folds the deities of any other religion 
without violence to itself." * 

The news of Tlaxcala affairs was daily communi- 
cated to the Aztec capital, and Moctezuma's fears 

*Prescott, p. 212. 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 229 

were constantly on the increase. Hence he feigned 
to be friendly, and sent Cortez costly presents and 
an urgent invitation to visit him. This simply ag- 
gravated his " heart disease " and hastened his steps 
toward Mexico, that mysterious capital of a hitherto 
unconquered race. 

Cholula, the holy city of Anahuac, was soon over- 
thrown, though the massacre of six thousand men 
under the shadow of its gigantic pyramid makes 
one of the darkest pages in the annals of the con- 
quest. A reconciliation was effected between its 
people and the Tlaxcalans, and Cortez's little band 
of foreigners headed the united forces of Cempoala, 
Tlaxcala, Cholula, and Huexotzinco, numbering in 
all some six thousand men. 

The downfall of Cholula, and the silence of the 
Mexican gods when consulted, only served to 
deepen the awe of Moctezuma into terror as the 
Spaniards approached. The idols were again con- 
sulted and this time Huitzilopochtli suggested that 
the strangers be invited in, their retreat be cut off, 
and that they be captured and sacrificed on the 
altar, after which their flesh should be eaten There- 
fore friendly embassies with additional presents were 
dispatched to hasten their coming. The army con- 
tinued its march, crossing the mountains between 

the snow-capped volcanoes of Popocatepetl and 
16 



230 ' Sketches of Mexico. 

Ixtaccihuatl, from which point the Spaniards had 
their first view of the magnificent valley of Mexico • 
— a scene which Humboldt declares has few supe- 
riors in all the world. Thus between the gates of 
the sunset came the fair children of the sun, and the 
prophecy of the oldest Mexican astrologers became 
reality. 

We must refer you to the standard histories for 
the narrative of the hard marches through and 
around the valley, the first interview with Mocte- 
zuma, the entrance into the imperial city, the long- 
wished-for goal, Cortez's first visit in company with 
the Aztec emperor to the great Teocalli, the ac- 
cidental discovery of the hidden cave which fairly 
blazed with treasures, and the final imprisonment 
of Moctezuma. The subsequent events which led 
^ip to the death of Moctezuma, and the final and 
complete subjugation of the Aztecs to the Spaniards, 
consummated on the 13th of August, i52i,Avhile of 
most thrilling interest, cannot here be detailed. 

The conquest would, doubtless, have been an im- 
possibility had the native tribes been united in de- 
fense of their common country. Be that as it may, we 
have the wonderful spectacle presented to the world 
of a few hundred Europeans, with their superior 
arms, and doubtless aided by the divisions and the 
superstitions of the natives, becoming masters of 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 231 

many millions of Mexicans. And of these millions 
they became the earthly masters for three hundred 
years. Well may the world ask, With what results ? 

The chief centers of population were finally led 
to an outward acceptance of the forms and ceremo- 
nies of Christianity. The rural and mountain dis- 
tricts, too often like the Tlaxcalans, were willing to 
place the God of the Christians among their other 
deities, and to this day their religious feasts justify 
the opinion of Humboldt, already quoted, concern- 
ing the mixture of savage and Christian ceremonies. 
To the world it was announced that a nation had 
been Christianized. But among the members of 
the Church making this empty boast are found to- 
day, as well as in the past, wise men who do not hesi- 
tate, like Abbe Emanuel Domenech, to assert that 
" the Mexican faith is a dead faith," and " the Mex- 
ican IS not a Catholic ; he is simply a Christian, be- 
cause he has been baptized." * 

What Spain did for Mexico in this and other 
senses is so well told by one of Mexico's noblest 
and most eloquent sons, that we quote at length 
from a speech which the Hon. Ignacio Ramirez 
made a few years since before one of the lyceums 
of the city of Mexico. We have two objects in 
making the lengthy quotation ; one is to give a 
* Mexico and the United States^ Abbott, pp. 195-203. 



232 Sketches of Mexico. 

sample of native eloquence (for Judge Ramirez 
was a pure Indian), and the other is to show how 
intelligent Mexicans of the present age regard the 
people by whom they were conquered three hun- 
dred and fifty years ago. This learned but now 
lamented Indian said : 

" The ephemeral grandeur of Spain overawes the 
mind. Southern nations were accustomed, in times 
of peace, to ornament their conquerors' weapons 
with emeralds and diamonds ; but the Spaniards, 
after two thousand years of conflict, from the times 
of the Carthaginians to the capture of Granada, be- 
came so unnatural that, even when the world was at 
their feet, they found no time to cleanse the escutch- 
eon of the Cid or of Pelayo. They did not enjoy 
opulence for a single day. They rendered homage 
to a foreigner, and the latter dedicated the fabu- 
lous heritage of the Catholic kings to the most dar- 
ing schemes. On the death of Charles V Spain 
found her people scattered by long distances, her 
agriculture harvested by the Moors, her industries 
victimized, her commerce discounted, her wise men 
burned as heretics, her municipal liberties circum- 
scribed by prison bars, her fleets in the hands of 
pirates, and her only recompense Philip II, the In- 
quisition, and the Jesuits. Her great captains, 
her skilled diplomats, her profound savants, in 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 233 

Flanders in France, in Italy, in the Lepant Seas, 
arose to the occasion in Europe, forgetting that 
their luminous glory and their skill might properly 
lay broad the foundations of future nationalities on 
the golden soil of the New World. Mexico was 
not entered, at first, save by miserable adventurers, 
commercial pirates, knights of the sword and in- 
cest. 

'' Columbus, following doubtful tracks, died in 
the belief that the Antilles formed part of the East 
Indies, and that he had discovered the gates of 
paradise and caught glimpses of its heavenly foliage. 
Cortez assassinated kings without daring to usurp 
their thrones, and, vested with the title of a mar- 
quis, posed before the courts of Europe as an en- 
nobled lackey. The Spanish 'Audience' was con- 
verted into a market place, where the Indian and his 
wealth were placed at public auction. The wise 
men denied to the Aztecs even the gift of reason. 
The sailors were unable to make a chart of the seas 
they overran, and, against the protest of wiser heads, 
regarded Yucatan and Lower California as islands. 
The historians authorized the most absurd fables. 
The bishops prepared the miracles and apparitions 
which one century later were to be consecrated as 
authentic. The Portuguese merchants themselves 
saw their goods confiscated, and were likewise 



234 Sketches of Mexico. 

burned at the stake as usurers. Laws were con- 
cocted, and then put into play whereby Mexico 
should not produce wines, nor silks, nor pottery, nor 
tobacco, but should simply supply to the conquer- 
ors the precious metals. The shops and the seas 
were closed ; the colleges were hidden in the con- 
vents, with an inquisitor as the jailer. The Jesuits 
conspired against the Franciscans, the Dominicans 
and Augustines, sole protectors of the Indians. 
The protection imparted to the Indians was limited 
to a declaration that they were simply minors. 

"With the viceregal government appeared a 
constant order of things, the sanction of all the 
monstrosities of the conquest. No one in the list 
of viceroys and archbishops was elevated enough to 
keep pace with the contemporaneous events of 
Europe. The nobles of Mexico saw in reform a 
scandal ; in the commercial battles of Holland and 
England a nursery for filibusters ; in French philos- 
ophy an eternal anathema ; in the emancipation of 
the United States a menace ; in the expulsion of the 
Jesuits a state secret ; in the relations with China a 
market of fans and combs ; in the colonial govern- 
ment a mere speculation ; in the middle classes bur- 
den bearers, and in the Indian but an animal. Three 
kinds of slavery, with these elements, were firmly 
established in New Spain, each a distinct system 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 235 

of tyranny, to wit, the king, the pope, and foreign 
commercial control. 

*' During the colonial times the Indian policy was 
reduced to the sustenance of a viceroy easily re- 
placed, under the keen eye of a scrutinizing * Audi- 
ence.' This body had judicial jurisdiction and 
police jurisdiction over the colonies. Spain only 
recognized America in as far as the latter contrib- 
uted to her revenues. It mattered not in Spain 
whether the Indians were rational beings or mere 
brutes, freemen or slaves, or whether they were pre- 
served or annihilated. At times Spain became 
alarmed, for the rich soil of Mexico produced what 
easily competed with the products of Europe. She 
scorned our advances in civilization, and was only 
pleased when the vessels laden with gold and silver 
reached the wharves of Cadiz. She deigned like- 
wise to accept as gifts either an idol or a cacique 
(native chieftain). 

" The clergy with rare discretion never lost an 
opportunity for extending and strengthening their 
own influence. For three hundred years the clergy 
governed Mexico by means of bishops and arch- 
bishops, seated on the thrones of the viceroys. 
They even held the lay viceroys themselves in 
their power, under the threat of excommunication. 
The clergy served as friendly arbiters among the 



236 Sketches of Mexico. 

peoples recently converted ; they legislated in their 
very missions; they monopolized public education ; 
they became capitalists, and in their acts of usury 
far surpassed the Shylocks of the Middle Ages. 
The Jesuits were their secret police and the Inqui- 
sition was a living tomb. They mingled their 
European blood with that of the Indian, and then 
conferred on their bastard offspring the Church's 
best curates. They raised cathedrals of mocking 
splendor and built great convents and churchly re- 
treats, while the viceroys built jails, mints, and tax 
offices. They fixed civil time to the exigencies of 
numerous feasts and religious practices. They 
mingled the Indian and the Spaniard in one flock, 
and merged God and the pope into two invisible 
sovereignties. Madrid was for us but an office of 
Rome. 

" Another power meanwhile grew rapidly and 
became a menace to the Spaniards, to the clergy 
themselves, and to the indigenous classes. Foreign 
commerce, piratical, authorized in its contraband 
features, under contract and without, flooded with 
their effects all of desolated Spain and its idle colo- 
nies. . . . The nations directly interested in free 
commerce were France, England, and the United 
States. Spain, exorcised in Charles II the Be- 
witched, had at the head of affairs Fernando VII, 



The Arrival of the Spaniards. 237 

while its emblem was the green candle of the Inqui- 
sition, its assistants were resurrected Jesuits, and its 
exchequer was debt. Mexico, in such conditions, 
should be civilly emancipated from the clergy ; but 
another struggle had to ensue ere the chains placed 
by priestly hands could break. 

'* The administrative chaos, called the colonial 
regime, presented various phenomena. Some classes 
were born and others died. Can the loss ever be 
realized to the native races worn away on the wheel 
of events in Tenochtitlan ? For three hundred years 
two hundred thousand men, half of them of the 
Tlaltelolco race, occupied this famous capital. 
Where are they now ? If we glance over Lower 
California, there in Todos Santos, we might find 
perhaps one old Indian, bowed and blind, bent un- 
der the weight of fourscore years, and he even per- 
haps now sleeps with his fathers. It only needed 
six or seven Jesuits to depopulate that Californian 
peninsula. On the other hand, the preponderant 
Mexican race feels coursing through its veins the 
mercurial blood of every nation in the world. Re- 
ligion and despotism have engendered equality. 

" Unfortunately idleness characterized life in the 
colonies. The civil and the religious authorities 
worked but an hour or two during half the days of 
the year. The owners of plantations trusted their 



238 Sketches of Mexico. 

properties to the foreman or the lessee, while many 
were parasites by profession. Foreign nations have 
surprised us with our coasts deserted, our country 
without roads, our people uninspired by the arts or 
dead to great business ventures ; absolutely igno- 
rant of our own wonderful resources, and only able 
to acquire the envied possessions of another people 
when our miners sent abroad our precious metals. 
Spain lost her colonies because she only cherished 
therein tax collectors, priests and miners."* 

The educated Indian, now constantly growing in 
numbers, in our sister republic, will never have this 
awful picture erased from his mind. No wonder 
that, as he reflected how all this was done in the 
name of the holy Catholic faith, he often asked, 
*' Where is God ? " While some of the more reli- 
giously inclined were led to cry out, " How long, O 
Lord, how long ! " 

'^Obras de Ignacio Ramirez, pp. 230-235. 



LECTURE VII. 



INDEPENDENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION 

OF 1857. 



LECTURE VII. 
INDEPENDENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION OF 1 857. 

THE sentiments so eloquently expressed by 
the lamented Ramirez were entertained by at 
least three fourths of the inhabitants of the country 
in the early part of this century. The perpetual 
drainage of the country's wealth by means of all 
kinds of taxation, the practical inthralldom of the 
indigenous races, their " lack of knowledge and no 
means placed within their reach to secure it," 
proved too conclusively to the poor Mexican that 
the Spaniards never recovered from the dreadful 
" disease of the heart which gold alone could cure," 
announced by Cortez, and that this disease, so fre- 
quently manifested during the conquest and the 
colonial times, was in no way lessening. They, the 
lawful owners of the country, became but the unfor- 
tunate victims of intruders. They could only judge 
by results. They had been conquered in the name 
of the King of Spain and the holy father in Rome. 
The former, in robbing them of their country, had 
cruelly burned the feet of two of their native rulers 
to compel them to reveal their hidden treasures — a 



242 Sketches of Mexico. 

cruelty kept up, in a modified sense, through all the 
three centuries ; while the representatives of the 
latter, from the time of Bishop Zumarraga down 
to the ecclesiastics of the nineteenth century, not 
only shared this " cursed lust of gold " with the 
civil oppressors, but had, as a rule, done compara- 
tively little to educate or elevate the Mexicans. 
Indeed, since the day in 1530 that Zumarraga had 
collected all their beautiful works of art — " their 
abominable scrolls and manuscripts, wherein every 
sign or picture seemed to the prelate the embodi- 
ment of Satanic art and witchery " — gathered them 
from public places and private homes, and cast 
them into one vast pile in the market place to be 
burned, the representatives of the Church showed 
clearly the fear entertained by them that the world 
at large might learn something of the civilization 
which they were despoiling in Mexico. Not only 
the civilization and arts of the natives, but their 
families as well were despoiled by priest and sol- 
dier. Immediately following the triumph of Cortez, 
when the Mexican prince w^arned him that if their 
" wives and daughters were not returned to their 
homes there might be a revolt among the Indians," 
and down to modern times, both Spanish priest 
and ruler have constantly invaded households and 
dragged souls into " the gall of bitterness." In early 



Independence and the Constitution. 243 

coloniai times concubinage among the priests was 
only punished wlien it became too pubHc and too 
scandalous. 

So at last when they realized the burden of cen- 
turies — " iron despotism, in which priest and soldier 
bore an equal part " — and aspirations after inde- 
pendence and liberty had been burning in their 
secret souls for many a long day, the " Grito de 
Dolores," raised in 1 8 10 by the venerable curate, 
Hidalgo, found ready response in every corner of 
the land, and with reason, too. From 1535 to 
1 82 1 sixty-one foreign viceroys had governed Mex- 
ico. Domineering in the exercise of their absolute 
rule, and in the monopoly of places of trust and 
power, they oppressed and insulted the natives till 
intense hatred of everything Spanish became the 
natural result. Even the Creole descendants were 
by law prohibited from participation in government 
service. 

Legislation in Madrid concerning New Spain was 
exclusive and oppressive, so much so that certain 
industries, such as the raising of silkworms and 
the cultivation of the vine, to which the climate 
and soil of Mexico were, and are now, peculiarly 
adapted, were interdicted — thus compelling Mex- 
ico to buy of Spain. The owners of many 
of the largest estates lived across the Atlantic 



244 Sketches of Mexico. 

and drew their revenues out of the country. 
Others liv^ed in the capital, who seldom if ever saw 
their great farms, which were managed, as in the 
former case, by administradores. In 1803 Jose de 
Iturrigaray came from Spain as viceroy. But his 
inclination to give the Creoles a chance cost him 
his position. Being hastily removed, the arch- 
bishop was placed in power till the arrival of a new 
viceroy, a more reliable Tory. 

" The French Revolution and the changes made 
by the movements of Napoleon I, including the re- 
moval of the Bourbon from the throne of Spain, 
reduced the prestige of Spanish rule in Mexico and 
seriously lessened the power of the viceroys. This 
was intensified when the emperor placed his brother 
on the Spanish throne, thus giving a heavy shock 
to the doctrine of the ' divine right of kings ' and 
the immutability of established order, and raising 
hopes that changes in the interests of liberty and 
riglit were to be expected and welcomed, and, if need 
be, fought for, by those who appreciated the sen- 
timent, ' Who would be free himself must strike the 
blow.' The spirit of liberty became infectious, and 
was strengthened by the Constitution granted by 
the new Cortes of Spain in 18 12, which abolished 
the Inquisition and gave to Mexico more freedom 
than she had known since the conquest. But the 



Independence and the Constitution. 245 

viceroy was a true absolutist, and had no heart to 
welcome the beneficent change, and longed for its 
overthrow. The fall of Napoleon was followed by 
the removal of his brother and the change of the 
liberal regimen in Spain. Ferdinand VII, who was 
restored to the throne by the policy of the * allied 
powers,' who met in Paris to reconstruct the map 
of Europe, was one of the most despotic of the 
Bourbons. 

'* He abolished the Constitution, restored the In- 
quisition and absolute government, and once more 
oppressed the inhabitants of the Spanish peninsula. 
Stern orders were sent to withdraw all that had 
been conceded to the people of Mexico. 

''Fearing the progress of the liberal ideas in that 
country as well as in the South American colonies, 
Ferdinand was intending to dispatch a fleet and 
army to bring Mexico and South American colo- 
nies again into submission. Before it was ready to 
sail the discovery was made that many of the offi- 
cers had become infected with this * new fever of 
liberty,' and even dared to express their displeasure 
at the service demanded of them, and were, indeed, 
more likely to lead the revolt in Mexico than to sup- 
press it. None others could take their places, and 
Ferdinand and his clerical sympathizers were openly 

•criticised for their despotic plans till, alarmed for 
17 



246 Sketches of Mexico. 

the stability of his throne, the Constitution was re- 
stored and the hostile expedition to Mexico aban- 
doned." * 

The cradle of Mexican independence was the cen- 
tral State of Guanajuato. Here the leaven of liberty 
had been working for some time in a little town 
called Dolores, about twenty-five miles from the 
State capital, and a great mining center. The cu- 
rate of this town was Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a 
name worthy of lasting honor as of one who gave 
his life to his country and *' who sacrified himself 
for the right as against injustice and oppression.'* 
He had already reached the age — about sixty — when 
most men seek rest from life's burdens. And yet he 
voluntarily placed his shoulders under the burdens 
of a nation while many thought the time not yet 
ripe. 

This '*, Washington " of his country is described 
by Bancroft as follows : ''His heart was kind and 
sympathetic ; his manner soft and winning ; his 
voice sonorous, vibrating, and most pleasing to the 
ear, and his deportment was natural and attractive. 
He had the true scholarly stoop, and in all his fea- 
tures, air, and attitude a profoundly meditative ex- 
pression — a fitting incarnation of a great soul bathed 
in settled calm. Yet the clear, black, brilliant eyes 

♦ Mexico in TransHion^ William Sutler, D.D., p. 65. 



Independence and the Constitution. 247 

betrayed the activity of the mind, and through 
them shone the Hght from the burning fires with- 
m. ^ 

This kind and sympathetic curate, hke a father 
to his flock, was interested in everything related to 
their temporal and spiritual welfare. So he taught 
them, among other things, grape culture and to 
raise silkworms, and he also built a porcelain factory. 
But these innocent occupations, likely to improve 
their temporal condition, thought at the time to cut 
off so much revenue from the home government, 
proved too much for the viceroy. So special agents 
were dispatched speedily to Dolores, and the worthy 
curate stood helplessly by while every mulberry 
tree was cut down and every vine torn up. Hidalgo 
had been for some time in secret correspondence 
with Allende, Aldama, and other patriots in the 
city of Queretaro, under the guise of a literary 
academy, where they were greatly helped by one 
Miguel Dominguezand his estimable wife, Doiia Jo- 
sefa Maria Ortiz. To this intelligent and patriotic 
woman was due the success of many early move- 
ments when the cause seemed weak. Noble women 
in State and Church have often lent inspiration 
and direction to worthy causes in trying hours. 

The cruel destruction of his industry thoroughly 
* Bancroft's Works, vol. xii, p. 104. 



24B Sketches of Mexico. 

aroused the curate and his neighbors for many miles 
around. Indeed, the indignation spread far and 
wide, Hke the echo from the Boston Tea Party of 
1776. The members of the Literary Academy in 
Queretaro, and other sympathizers throughout the 
land, concluded that the time to strike had come. 
On the night of the 15th of September, of the year 
already referred to, Hidalgo, in the public square of 
Dolores, raised his Grito, "Viva la Independencia, 
Muera el Gobierno." This was afterward changed 
to " Mueran los Gachupines," * and a few days later 
at Atotoniico were added the words, " Viva la Vir- 
gen de Guadalupe. "f 

The workmen in Hidalgo's two factories were 
forewarned and soon appeared with arms in hand. 
The nineteen Spanish residents of the town were 
put under arrest. As dawn approached the church 
bell was rung that Sunday morning at an earlier 
hour than usual, the first tolling of Mexico's liberty 
bell. The townspeople gathered, and at a late hour 
the people flocked in from the neighboring farms. 
The faithful pastor of many years had a new and 
novel text, *' Deliverance was demanded, and from 
the evil one; but it was from Satan in the flesh, 
from devils incarnate as temporal masters, inflicting 

* A contemptuous name for the Spaniards. 

\ Alexico A Traves de los Sighs, vol. iii. p 107. 



Independence and the Constitution. 249 

wrongs and injuries and infamies without number.""^ 
As the curate entered the pulpit and looked on the 
sea of upturned anxious faces he said, **My dear 
children, this day comes to us a new dispensation. 
Are you ready to receive it? Will you be free? 
Will you make the effort to recover from the hated 
Spaniards the lands stolen from your forefathers 
three hundred years ago? " 

This was the first public speech of the Revolution, 
and it was the last made by this pastor to his flock 
at Dolores. Like loving children, terribly in earnest, 
they followed their spiritual guide and their patri- 
otic leader out of town that morning, about six 
hundred strong. Lances, machetes, clubs, slings, 
bows, and arrows, were their chief weapons — of fire- 
arms they had but few. At San Miguel AUende 
their number rose to four thousand, and a supply of 
munitions of war was secured. On the i8th, just 
two days after the '^ Grito," as they marched out 
of San Miguel the forces numbered ten thousand ; 
on the 2 1st they reached Queretaro, and a few days 
later entered Celaya with an army of fifty thousand. 
Here Hidalgo was elected captain general amid the 
wild enthusiasm of his followers. On the morning of 
the 28th they approached the city of Guanajuato, 
were joined by a considerable army of miners, and 

* Bancroft's Works, vol. xii, p. 117. 



250 Sketches of Mexico. 

after four hours* struggle they took the city. With 
it fell into their hands additional munitions of war 
and about one million dollars found in the State 
treasury. Soon after Valladolid, Guadalajara, and 
other cities were in their possession. The wonder- 
ful success attending Hidalgo's movements threw 
consternation into the government camp at the 
national capital. The viceroy, knowing the power 
of money, offered ten thousand dollars for the 
body of Hidalgo *' dead or alive." Anathemas and 
excommunications were hurled by the archbishop 
against Hidalgo and his associates, and, thinking to 
cap the climax, the rector of the university publicly 
announced the fact that " Hidalgo was not a doctor 
of divinity." 

Notwithstanding all this Hidalgo turned his face 
toward Mexico city, evidently disposed to " beard 
the lion in his den." His forces constantly grew in 
number till, when he reached Las Cruces, a high 
eminence overlooking the beautiful valley of Mex- 
ico, there were nearly one hundred thousand men, 
women, and children following his little banner. At 
his feet lay the national capital, all important to 
him and to his cause. But, looking around him, he 
saw an immense rabble without discipline and with- 
out the necessary munitions of war, while the capi- 
tal was defended by a royal garrison with the best 



Independence and the Constitution. 251 

armaments of the times and well-disciplined men. 
Hidalgo realized it was more the part of prudence 
to defer the attack till he was better prepared. So 
he turned his army northward and intended to push 
on toward our frontier in the hope of purchasing 
arms and ammunition, and at the same time drill his 
raw army. He was soon overtaken by the Royalists, 
who seriously damaged his forces, although most of 
them kept together till they reached Saltillo early 
in 1811. Here he left General Rayon in charge 
while, with a small escort, he pushed on toward 
Texas in search of the much-needed military equip- 
ment, and possibly in the hope of securing aid from 
the new and patriotic republic north of the Rio 
Grande. 

About this time Hidalgo received a letter from the 
viceroy offering pardon in case he and his would 
lay down their arms. To this he replied : " We 
will not lay aside our arms until we have wrested 
the jewel of liberty from the hands of the oppres- 
sor. . . . Pardon, your excellency, is for criminals, 
not for defenders of their country." 

A few days later this noble patriot was betrayed 
by a miserable traitor named Elizondo, who handed 
him over to the Spaniards. After being kept in 
prison for three months he was tried by an ec- 
clesiastical court. On July 29 he was degraded from 



252 Sketches of Mexico. 

the priesthood, handed over to the secular court, 
and on the morning of the 31st was shot, his 
companions in arms, Allende, Aldama, and Jimenez, 
having been shot a few days before. The heads of 
all four were placed on long poles and elevated on 
the corners of the Alhondiga en Guanajuato, and 
their bodies interred in th^ Chapel of San Francisco. 
After the triumph of the revolution in 1823 an ap- 
preciative national congress ordered the bodies and 
the skulls removed and reinterred with solemn 
honors beneath the "Altar of the Three Kings,'* 
under the dome of the cathedral in the capital. 
Well does the author of Mexico in Transition re- 
mark that : 

" Certainly Hidalgo could not have dreamed of 
the glorious part which his tattered flag should bear 
in the future. Year by year, on the eve of 
September 16, the highest national holiday, at 11 
o'clock P. M., in the Hall of Representatives, the 
president, his cabinet, and the members of Congress, 
public men of Mexico, with all the brilliancy of 
society in the capital, crowd the structure and wait 
for the moment when the hands of the clock reach 
the hour at which Hidalgo first raised the cry of 
independence. Then the President of Mexico raises 
the old flag, waves it three times, and repeats the 
Grito : ' Viva la Libertad ! Viva la Republica ! 



Independence and the Constitution. 253 

Viva Mexico ! ' and tlie great audience rises to join 
in the shout, ' Viva la Republica ! * as if they would 
lift the roof off the building. The thunder of the 
artillery gives its response to the popular joy, and 
more than three thousand people in the capital, and, 
indeed, the whole nation, remember gratefully the 
man who died to make them free." * 

His fellow-countrymen have gratefully embalmed 
his memory, " and his name, growing brighter and 
brighter as the ages pass, will be handed down un- 
sullied to remotest generations." f 

The leader was dead, but not the cause. Martyrs 
never help the opposite side. After Hidalgo's 
death the command devolved upon Morelos and 
Rayon. The former, an old friend and student of 
Hidalgo, soon became immensely popular, and came 
to be known as '* the hero of a hundred battles." 
The army recovered speedily from the fall of its 
former leaders, and increased in numbers and mul- 
tiplied its victories. From the Royalists whole 
companies and regiments passed over to the stand- 
ard of the Republicans. The Bravos, Victoria, 
Bustamante, Guerrero, and others soon joined the 
patriot ranks. 

In October, 18 14, a Constitution was proclaimed, 

* Mexico in Transition, p. lo. 
f Bancroft, vol. xii, p. 286. 



254 Sketches of Mexico. 

having been prepared by a congress called for the 
purpose by Morelos, and which met inChilpancingo. 
The custody of this national body cost the general 
his life. The viceroy ordered that "the insurgents 
should be pursued, incarcerated, and killed like wild 
beasts." The Republicans, on the contrary, acted 
with magnanimity toward their ememy. Let the 
following serve as an illustration : In the ranks of 
the Republicans were two generals named Bravo — 
father and son. The father was taken a prisoner at 
Cauatla, tried, and condemned to die. The viceroy, 
knowing his value as a soldier, offered him his life 
if he would induce his son and his brothers to join 
the Royalists, but this offer was spurned. He pre- 
ferred to die for his country than to live with its 
oppressors. While he was a prisoner the junior 
Bravo captured three hundred Spanish soldiers and 
offered them to the viceroy as a ransom for his 
father. Some of them were officers from Spain, 
and others wealthy hacendados; but the viceroy 
rejected the offer and ordered the father executed. 
On hearing this the son was overwhelmed with 
grief, and he immediately ordered his three hundred 
prisoners shot. They were allowed religious counsel 
and told to prepare for execution on the following 
morning. On reflection, however, he concluded 
that their execution would be a dishonor to the 



INDEPENDKNCE AM) THE CONSTITUTION. 255 

cause of independence, however the world might 
justify it on military grounds, so he determined on 
his course. The next morning early the three 
hundred men were drawn up in line in front of the 
army, all ready for the fatal order. When the time for 
giving the order arrived Bravo rode out to the front 
and thus addressed the condemned men : 

" Your lives are forfeited. Your master, Spain's 
minion, has murdered my father, murdered him in 
cold blood for choosing Mexico and 'liberty be- 
fore Spain and her tyrannies. Some of you are 
fathers, and may imagine what my father felt in 
being thrust from the world without one farewell 
word from his son ; aye, and your sons may feel a 
portion of that anguish of soul which fills my heart 
as thoughts arise of my father's wrongs and cruel 
death. And what a master is this of yours ! For 
one life, my poor father's, he might have saved you 
all, and would not ! So deadly is his hate that he 
would sacrifice three hundred of his friends rather 
than forego this one sweet morsel of vengeance. 
Even I, who am no viceroy, have three hundred 
lives for my father's. But there is a nobler revenge 
than this. Go ! You are all free ! Go find your 
vile master, and henceforth serve him if you can ! " 

No wonder it is said that " the effect was over- 
whelming." The entire number, ** with tears stream- 



256 Sketches of Mexico. 

ing from their eyes rushed forward and offered their 
services to his cause, and remained faithful to him 
and to it to the very end." 

It is doubtful if the difficulties and perplexities 
of the situation in Mexico at this time have ever 
been fully appreciated in the United States. In 
the struggle for independence theirs was a much 
greater task than ours. " When our patriot fathers 
here pledged ' life and fortune and sacred honor,' 
to become independent and free, they had not been 
for three hundred years crushed down in ignorance 
and poverty, almost without hope or aspiration. 
No powerful viceroy wielding the military forces of 
a foreign despot was in power to repress every utter- 
ance for liberty, or ' to hunt them down like beasts 
of prey' when they attempted to obtain it. No 
great landed aristocracy, owning every acre of the 
soil, laid its heavy hand upon them in vengeance. 
No wealthy established Church united its ghostly 
power with civil despotism to repress them, bring- 
ing to its aid the remorseless Inquisition and its 
spiritual maledictions, adding blasphemously the 
terrors of God and of eternity to crush their cause 
and their hopes as unlawful. Nor were they cut off 
from the sea and its resources, or left without one 
friendly nation on the earth to extend sympathy or 
a helping hand to them in the unequal struggle, 



Independence and the Constitution. 257 

nor so destitute of resources that they had to win 
battles to obtain weapons and ammunition to con- 
tinue the conflict. All that they had to begin with 
were their own right hands and noble leaders, who 
* loved not their lives unto the death,' to make 
their nation a land of liberty." * 

Besides, in all their territory there was no com- 
mon school, no elementary literature, and no Bible. 
Doubtful indeed it is if any people ever won consti- 
tutional liberty against greater odds. But the 
United States set them the example twenty-five 
years before, and our admiration for their persistent 
and brave effort cannot be too great. Had there 
been no historic Washington there would have 
been no historic Hidalgo. 

After the events now described the revolution 
spread until the entire country was one great field of 
commotion, no great battle anywhere, but local up- 
risings on every hand. 

In 1820, when it was thought by some that possi- 
bly Ferdinand VII, now restored to Spain, due to 
the disturbances in Europe, might seek a more quiet 
throne in Mexico, many liberals were led, by the 
hope of obtaining constitutional liberty, to consent 
to a temporary cessation of hostilities, especially as 
the home government saw fit to remove the despotic 

* Mexico in Transition. 



258 Sketches of Mexico. 

viceroy and put in his place a more considerate 
one. Iturbide, commander of the Royalist army in 
the southwest, issued the Plan of Iguala, or the Con- 
stitution of the Three Guarantees — religion, inde- 
pendence, and union. Roman Catholicism was to 
be the national religion, to the exclusion of all 
others; independence from Spain was to be had; 
and a union, with equal rights for all classes of people. 
The masses at first regarded it with favor, but the 
more intelligent leaders concluded that it smacked 
too much of Rome. The new viceroy and Iturbide 
met in August of that year and discussed the situa- 
tion, and the former accepted with few modifica- 
tions, the Plan of Iguala, agreeing himself to become 
a member of the Provisional Junta till Ferdinand 
should arrive. But Ferdinand decided not to come, 
as did also the crown princes of Spain, and the 
whole plan failed. The viceroy died suddenly, and 
the ambitious Iturbide was virtually master of the 
situation. The first article of his plan declared, 
" The Mexican nation is independent of the Span- 
ish nation, and of every other, even on its own 
continent." 

Spain was too much engaged with internal and 
continental disturbances at home to make more 
than a formal protest. But no more blood was 
shed, and on February 24, 1 821, the Spanish flag 



Independence and the Constitution. 259 

which had floated for just three hundred years in 
the balmy air of New Spain was hauled down, the 
Mexican tricolor floated over the liberated land, 
and the United States of Mexico began their inde- 
pendent national life, the legitimate result of the 
life and sacrifices of Miguel Hidalgo; a result that 
cost the nation thousands of lives and rivers of blood. 
Iturbide and Guerrero had joined forces to bring 
about the final result ; and had the former been 
more of a patriot and less of a churchman he might 
have been elected president of the new republic. 
His ambition, however, was not for his country, but 
for himself; and when, on May 22, 1822, by the 
aid of the yet dominant Church party, he managed 
to have himself proclaimed Augustine I, Emperor 
of Mexico, he did not realize that by that act he 
had lost his hold on the best people of the nation. 
This, however, he soon after did realize, and then 
tendered his resignation. His resignation was not 
accepted, but he was exiled and promised to live 
abroad. Attempting to return about fourteen 
months later, he was arrested on landing and 
executed. His only son went to the United States 
for his education, and then married. To him was 
born one son, who to this day is spoken of by the 
Church party as Prince Augustine, but whose every 
move is watched by the liberal party. 



26o Sketches of Mexico. 

About this time Santa Ana first prominently ap- 
peared on the scene by pronouncing against Itur- 
bide. Some Republican leaders, believing Santa 
Ana to be honest in his liberal professions, joined 
him. After the fall of Itiirbide's empire General 
Victoria was chosen president, and a Constitution 
adopted modeled after ours, save in the one proviso 
of religious liberty. 

Spain's spasmodic and futile efforts in J829 to 
regain possession of Mexico, by sending General Bar- 
randas with a small army, only intensified native 
hatred toward all Spaniards, and came near result- 
ing in their complete exile from the country. 

Perhaps no public man did more to postpone 
Mexico's complete freedom than did Antonio 
Lopez de Santa Ana. His own people never 
knew where to find him, yet *' his clerical patrons 
knew well how to utilize his remarkable qualities, 
though it must be confessed that his eye to the 
main chance was always as keenly open for his own 
advantage as for the promotion of their purposes." 
He was ruler of his country on five different occa- 
sions, and helped to depose about a score from the 
same high position. His relations to Texas gave 
Americans an opportunity to hear much — and 
especially much that was bad — about this notori- 
ous character. Perhaps no one's opinion of Santa 



Independence and the Constitution, 261 

Ana was as elevated as his own, for to himself he 
was a great hero. When he was captured by Gen- 
eral Houston he had the audacity to remark to the 
general, " You are born to no common destiny who 
are the conqueror of the * Napoleon of the South,' *' 
As far back as we can remember in early school 
days we recall pictures of this remarkable man in 
our text-books, and then can remember vividly how 
twenty years ago this coming summer we sat by his 
side in the city of Mexico and heard from the lips 
of the feeble old man some of the events of his 
checkered and stormy life, 

A most interesting account of the strange and 
pompous burial of his '^ Christian leg/' shot off by a 
French cannon ball, of his assumption of dictatorial 
powers, his rupture with the archbishop, the deser- 
tion of his own followers, the mob that disinterred 
his poor leg and kicked it through the streets of 
the city, and the subsequent events of a career 
without parallel, together with an excellent portrait 
of the turbulent dictator, may be found in Dr. 
William Butler's Mexico in Transition, 

Santa Ana's expedition to Texas was a failure, 

and the ''^ Lone Star " asked for admission to the 

United States after ten years of independence. The 

final result was one of the most unrighteous wars 

ever waged. A war it was against which some of 
18 



262 Sketches of Mexico. 

our best statesmen protested, and which was con- 
demned in unqualified terms by the voice and pen 
of our lamented General Grant. In his Memoirs he 
says : 

*' The presence of the United States troops on 
the edge of the disputed territory farthest from 
the Mexican settlements was not sufficient to pro- 
voke hostilities. We were sent to provoke a fight, 
but it was essential that Mexico should commence 
it. It was very doubtful whether Congress would 
declare war, but if Mexico should attack our troops 
the executive could announce, * Whereas, war ex- 
ists by the acts of,' etc., and prosecute the contest 
with vigor " (Vol. i, p. 6'j\ 

" The occupation, separation, and annexation 
were, from the inception of the movement to its 
final consummation, a conspiracy to acquire territory 
out of which slave States might be formed for the 
American Union. Even if the annexation itself 
could be justified the manner in which the subse- 
quent war was forced upon Mexico cannot. The 
fact is, annexationists wanted more territory than 
they could possibly lay any claim to as part of the 
new acquisition. Texas, as an independent State, 
never had exercised jurisdiction over the territoiy 
between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. 
Mexico had never recognized the independence of 



Independence and the Constitution. 263 

Texas, and maintained that, even if independent, 
the State had no claim south of the Nueces '' 
(Vol. i, p. 54). 

The Southern representatives in our national 
Congress hoped thus to secure a territory out of 
which nine slave States could be carved equal in 
extent to the State of Kentucky, as said Senator 
Benton, of Missouri, in his famous speech, while Mr. 
Wise, of Virginia, added : " Slavery should pour it- 
self abroad without restraint, and find no limit but 
the Southern ocean."* 

Great Britain had in 1829 offered $5,000,000 
simply to take Texas under her protection. Our 
minister at Mexico, Mr. Poinsett, offered a like sum 
or a loan of $10,000,000. Mr. William Jay, in his 
Review of the Causes and Consequences of the Mexi- 
can War (Boston, 1849), shows conclusively, we 
think, how the government at Washington from 
this time forward pursued precisely the policy that 
provoked Mexico, to declare war. Such a course 
with a weaker neighbor, and with the nefarious 
purpose of acquiring more territory, in order that 
the awful crime of human slavery might be perpetu- 
ated on the American continent, was a crime perhaps 
without equal in the history of any Christian nation. 
The calamity which followed a few years later in con- 

* Jay's Review, p. So. 



264 Sketches of Mexico. 

nection with the same inhuman question would seem 
like a just dispensation from *' the God of all the 
earth," who could look with '' no degree of allow- 
ance " upon such a wicked institution as slavery. 
Nor should it be forgotten that Mexico, having 
herself abolished slavery in 1829, at the instance 
of the immortal Hidalgo, protested against the 
desecration of Texan territory by Southern slave- 
holders. 

The largest map of the United States known to 
exist is not found in our colleges, but it hangs in 
the library of the Propaganda in Rome. On it the 
pope has marked, for many long years past, the 
march of civilization on our peerless Western con- 
tinent. It is said that every town or village in our 
country is constantly in evidence before this keen 
student of geography and history. In the early for- 
ties California, no doubt, was a study of unusual 
interest to the pope and the Propaganda. Great 
Britain was also interested, as naturally were the 
United States. A race was made for the prize. 
Dr. Ellinwood, Secretary of the Presbyterian Board 
of Missions, in an article published in the New York 
Evangelist (June 30, 1887), tells how one Father 
McNamara, an Irish Romanist in California, wrote 
a letter to the President of Mexico asking for a con- 
cession to plant in the beautiful valley of San Joa- 



Independence and the Constitution. 265 

quin a colony of Irish Catholics. His letter, which 
was intercepted, reads as follows : 

''I have a triple object in my proposal. I wish, 
first, to advance the cause of Catholicism ; second, 
to promote the happiness and thrift of my country- 
men ; and, thirdly, to put an obstacle in the way of 
the further usurpations of that irreligious and anti- 
Catholic nation, the United States. And if the 
plan which I propose be not speedily adopted, your 
excellency may be assured that before another year 
the Californians will form a part of the American 
nation, the Catholic institutions will become the 
prey of the Methodist wolves, and the whole coun- 
try will be inundated with cruel invaders." 

We might remark, parenthetically, that the 
" Methodist wolves" did get there, and that one of 
the honored founders of Syracuse University, Jesse 
T. Peck, was of the first to arrive, and a very good 
specimen he was of the flock which has been pour- 
ing in ever since. Records in the State Department 
at Washington confirm the truth of the McNamara 
incident. True, the McNamara grant of land was 
made, but the British Admiral Seymour arrived 
too late to back the claim, and on the very day the 
grant was made General Fremont ran up the Stars 
and Stripes at Monterey, and thus secured the great 
gold State to the American Union. One year later 



266 Sketches of Mexico. 

(February 2, 1848) the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 
closed the Mexican War, and our government 
paid $18,250,000 for California, a tithe, however, of 
what it was worth. 

Two occurrences during the Mexican War should 
have special mention. On these two occasions, at 
least, at Monterey and Cherubusco, Irish soldiers 
in the American army, when brought face to face 
with the enemy, deserted the Stars and Stripes and 
passed over into the ranks of the Mexicans rather 
than fight against Roman Catholics. They were 
Irish emigrants who had gone into the war for pay — 
who received month after month the American dol- 
lar, but when the emergency came, at the mandate 
of a Catholic priest, they turned their backs on 
the flag they had sworn to defend. Let Americans 
remember this is what Rome may do for them in 
an emergency. At Cherubusco, the second place 
named, nearly two hundred such Irish Catholics de- 
serted and then turned their bayonets on their fel- 
low-countrymen. Their treachery aided the enemy 
in entailing upon our forces its greatest loss during 
the entire war, namely, one thousand killed and 
wounded, one seventh of the entire force. This 
reminds us of the startling fact recently published 
by Dr. R. S. MacArthur, of New York city, that, 
during our late rebellion seventy-two per cent of all 



Independence and the Constitution. 267 

desertions from the Union army were Irishmen, and 
that these desertions began just after the pope rec-' 
ognized the Confederacy.* 

Let Americans remember that in the defense of 
their repubhcan hberties neither nihihsts, anarchists, 
revolutionary sociaHsts, nor Roman Cathohcs can 
be fully depended upon. The latter will obey their 
priests quicker than their conscience or their civil 
ruler, for they are Romanists first and Americans 
after. It is a thought which may well give us some 
concern, with these facts before us, that all over 
this fair land, living under the protection of its 
laws, enjoying every immunity common to our peo- 
ple, are thousands of men who would this very day 
lay down their lives to obey the orders which come 
to them from the Tiber rather than those which 
come to them from the capital on the Potomac ; and 
who can tell but that Satolli is now instructing them 
how to do it ? " Put none but Americans on guard 
to-night " may be as necessary a precaution in days 
to come as it has been in days that are passed. 

It must be remembered that Mexico was a land 
without the Bible and without the common school. 
However unrighteous may have been the action of 
our government in waging war with our next-door 
neighbors, God always knows how to make even 

* ATew York Tribune, quoted in Pittsburg Advocate. 



26S Sketches of Mexico. 

the mistakes, as well as " the wrath of man to 
praise him." When our army marched from the 
Rio Grande to the interior of the country colpor- 
teurs of the American Bible and American Tract 
Societies followed everywhere in their wake, and 
under the protection of the Stars and Stripes hun- 
dreds of copies of the word of God and thousands 
of little tracts bearing the promise of salvation were 
scattered everywhere, like white-winged messengers 
of peace. A few of the priests and hundreds of the 
people received them gladly. As soon as the war 
was over many of these Bibles and tracts were 
gathered up and destroyed by order of the Church. 
But enough of them remained to be considered the 
first " seed sowing " of the glorious harvest now 
being gathered. Missionaries now moving about 
the country frequently find little groups who had 
secretly guarded the sacred treasure till the Bible 
burners ceased to have the upper hand in the coun- 
try, and they were able to bring forth the Scriptures 
for the light and joy of little circles which, in many 
cases, rapidly developed into evangelical churches. 
On one occasion, when traveling in the hot country, 
and passing through a cornfield, we were arrested 
by the voice of song. Following the sound of a fa- 
miliar tune for a short distance, we soon found our- 
selves in front of a little adobe hut, where sat, in 



Independence and the Constitution. 269 

the doorway, an aged Mexican and a child on 
either side of him. A large book lay open on his 
lap and a small one in his hand. To the children 
he was teaching what proved to be one of our Gos- 
pel hymns, and, upon inquiring, we were tojd that 
the large book was a copy of the Holy Scriptures 
which had been left by *' a man who came with the 
American army in 1847." Learning we were friends, 
the poor Indian received us with joy, and seemed as 
much delighted as ourselves as we were shown the 
little adobe chapel where between thirty and forty 
people gathered every Sunday to read and study 
the Word, and that without fear. 

The lecturer has in his possession the very copy 
of the Bible which was instrumental in the conver- 
sion of the first Mexican who ever became a Meth- 
odist preacher. The preacher over ten years ago 
went to his well-earned reward, but the book is still 
guarded as a treasure of unusual value. 

Five years after the American war Santa Ana 
was recalled and appointed president *' for one 
year." But this sufficed for him to get fast hold 
on the reins of government and to announce him- 
self, as he did December 16, 1853, Permanent Dic- 
tator, with the modest title of " His Serene High- 
ness." He recalled the Jesuits, who had been 
expelled during colonial times. The following July 



2/0 Sketches of Mexico. 

he sent Jose Gutierrez de Estrada to Europe, with 
powers " to negotiate in Europe for the establishment 
of a monarchy in Mexico." It would have been dif- 
ficult in any country to have found a better tool of 
the Catholic Church. But Santa Ana was again 
deposed, and he fled the country in 1855. With 
him fell the unscrupulous Church party, and Es- 
trada's scheme was checked for the time. General 
Alvarez, a true patriot, came to power, and selected 
for his secretary of justice, ecclesiastical affairs, and 
public instruction an Indian from the State of 
Oaxaca, Benito Juarez. 

The first thing which General Alvarez and Mr. 
Juarez (the cultured and noble little Indian), aided 
by General Ignacio Comonfort, set about to accom- 
plish was the framing of such a Constitution as would 
abolish the Concordat and establish religious freedom 
as the true foundation stone of a free and self-assert- 
ing nation. The result was that on the 5th of Feb- 
ruary, 1857, there was published, *' in the name of 
God, and by the authority of the Mexican people," 
what Mr. Seward regarded as ** the best instrument 
of its kind in the world," the Mexican Constitution, 
for the ample provisions of which many a faithful 
missionary in Mexico to-day lifts his heart to heaven 
in sincere gratitude. 

The full text, well translated, may be seen in Dr. 



Independence and the Constitution. 271 

Abbott's Mexico and the United States, but a synop- 
sis of it is as follows : 

1. The establishment of the constitutional federal 
government in the place of a military dictatorship. 

2. Freedom and protection to slaves entering the 
national territory. 

3. Freedom of religion. 

4. Freedom of the press. 

5. The nationalization of the $200,000,000 of 
property held by the clergy, from which, and other 
sources, the Church derived an annual income of 
not less than $20,000,000. 

6. The subordination of the army to the civil 
power and the abolition of military and ecclesiasti- 
cal /z^^r^j, or special tribunals. 

7. The negotiation of commercial treaties of the 
fullest scope and most liberal character, including 
reciprocity of trade on our frontiers. 

8. The colonization of Mexico by the full opening 
of every part of the country to immigration and the 
encouragement of foreign enterprise in every branch 
of industry, particularly in mining and in works of 
internal improvement.* 

The immense wealth of the Church, aided by the 
ambassadors of France, Spain, and Guatemala, un- 
der the guidance of Clementi, nuncio of the pope, 
* Mexico in Transition, p. 121. 



272 • Sketches of Mexico. 

effected the overthrow of Comonfort, and later on 
of Juarez. This resulted in the sending of Almonte, 
intimate friend of the archbishop, to the French 
court, where he was soon to plan, with Napoleon, 
the Papal-Franco intervention. In the meantime 
Miguel Miramon, an ardent, instrument of the clergy^ 
came to the presidency. Almonte negotiated with 
Napoleon III such a treaty as furnished the French 
emperor just the weapon he had long wanted, and 
" he gladly took its infamous author under his 
special protection, and resolved on a war whose in- 
justice will be recognized as long as modern history 
is studied by honest men, and which can never be 
forgotten by Mexico." The Liberals captured some 
papers belonging to the Archbishop of Mexico in 
which Almonte was recommended to " the prayers 
and favors of the pope." 

When Juarez and his government were reinstated 
in the national capital in January, 1861, many of the 
clergy left the country, accompanied by certain mil- 
itary traitors, and went directly to Paris to confer 
with Almonte and Napoleon. 

The papal nuncio was bolder, and remained, 
only to be expelled from the country four days 
after Mr. Juarez had entered the national palace. 
Fortunate was it for Mexico that God raised up for 
her salvation such a man on the very eve of one of 



Independence and the Constitution. 273 

the greatest struggles ever known to a nation seek- 
ing freedom. This remarkable and well-beloved 
man was a pure Indian without a drop of Spanish 
blood in his veins. He was born in 1806, in a little 
Indian village twenty miles from the city of Oaxaca. 
When he first entered that city, a boy of twelve 
years, he was unable even to speak the Spanish 
language. He became an errand boy in the house 
of a lawyer, and this kind-hearted man, recognizing 
the worth of the boy, encouraged him to study. He 
did so, and soon became a student in the seminary of 
Oaxaca. From the seminary he graduated with 
honors, and was admitted to the bar in 1834. Eight 
years later he was elected chief justice of his native 
State, and soon after governor of the same. During 
his term of five years he made Oaxaca about the 
most prosperous State of Mexico. In 1846 he came 
to represent his State in the national Congress, 
when his wonderful qualifications for leadership 
were recognized by President Alvarez, who called 
him into the cabinet a few days later. So greatly 
did he distinguish himself in this position that he 
was soon made the standard bearer of the Liberal 
party and came to be, as Castelar said, " the saviour 
of the honor of his country." The Church early 
learned to fear him. When but a student the Con- 
servative party, at that time having the upper hand 



2/4 Sketches of Mexico. 

in Oaxaca, consigned him to prison for his advo- 
cacy of liberal ideas and reform. In 1853 Santa 
Ana exiled him for the same reason ; and we find 
him living for two years in New Orleans, where he 
endured great hardships on account of his poverty, 
earning a livelihood part of the time " by twisting 
cigars," while he improved the opportunity for 
closely studying our country and its institutions. 
The way opened for his return and restoration to 
office, and on the 12th of February, 1857, ^^^^ 
Church fairly trembled before " the little Indian ' ' as 
he hurled forth the famous "Reform Laws" with 
all the courage of a new Cromwell and all the 
ardor of a Luther. To these laws were added in 
September, 1873, and in January, 1877, certain 
additional provisions. The synopsis of all is as 
follows : 

The absolute separation of Church and State. 

Congress inhibited from the paissage of any laws 
establishing or prohibiting any religion. 

The free exercise of religious services. The 
State should not give official recognition to any re- 
ligious festivals, save the Sabbath, as a day of rest. 

Religious services were to be held only within the 
place of worship. 

Clerical vestments were forbidden in the streets. 

Religious processions were forbidden. 



Independence and the Constitution. 275 

The use of church bells was restricted to calling 
the people to worship. 

Pulpit discourses advising disobedience to the 
law, or injury to anyone, were strictly forbidden. 

Worship in churches should be public only. 

Gifts of real estate to religious institutions were 
declared unlawful, with the sole exception of edi- 
fices designed exclusively for the purposes of the 
institution. 

The State would not recognize monastic orders 
nor permit their establishment. 

The association of Sisters of Charity was sup- 
pressed in the republic; the Jesuits were expelled 
and not allowed to return. 

Marriage was a civil contract and to be duly reg- 
istered. The religious services might be added. 

This Constitution and these Reform Laws provided 
for the confiscation of all Church property — includ- 
ing cathedrals, churches, chapels, convents, etc., 
and secured the expulsion of the Jesuits, Sisters of 
Charity, and all secret religious orders from the 
country. But the sun, moon, and stars continued 
to shine as brightly as ever. 



LECTURE VIII. 



NEW LIFE IN MEXICO. 
19 



LECTURE VIII. 
NEW LIFE IN MEXICO. 

BEFORE all had been accomplished, Almonte 
and Napoleon were preparing their pet plan 
to overthrow the republic and reestablish a mon- 
archy and a State Church. It may not be amiss to 
look for a moment at this second character. Napo- 
leon, when a youth, attempted to overthrow the 
French monarchy. Though pardoned by Louis 
Philippe he violated his compact and returned 
within two years to proclaim himself emperor. He 
was imprisoned for life, but escaped six years later, 
and made his way to England. On the establish- 
ment of the republic he returned to France, in 1848, 
and was elected a member of the Constitutional 
Assembly. On account of his loud profession of 
democratic sentiments he was elected president of 
the Assembly in December of that year, at which 
time he publicly swore, '' In the presence of God 
and of the French people," to remain faithful to the 
democratic republic. But within three years he de- 
liberately violated his oath, dissolved the National 
Assembly, placed the first military division in siege, 



28o Sketches of Mexico. 

scattered the Council of State, and became a despot 
over his country. 

To this Victor Hugo adds these details : " At the 
same time Paris learned that fifteen of the inviolable 
representatives of the people had been arrested in 
their homes during the night by order of Louis Na- 
poleon. In the days following he seized the execu- 
tive power, made an attempt on the legislative 
power, drove away the Assembly, expelled the high 
court of justice, took twenty-five millions from the 
bank, gorged the army with gold, raked Paris with 
grapeshot, and terrorized France ; he proscribed 
eighty-four of the representatives of the people, de- 
creed despotism in fifty-eight articles under the title 
of a constitution ; garroted the republic, made the 
sword of France a gag in the mouth of liberty, 
transported to Africa and Cayenne ten thousand 
democrats, exiled fifty thousand republicans, placed 
in all souls grief and on all foreheads blushes."* 
And this is the man with whom the pope had joined 
himself to work ''wreck and ruin" on martyred 
Mexico. They were cautious enough to wait an op- 
portune hour. They believed the hour had come 
when our country was engaged in one of the fierc- 
est conflicts that ever rocked this world. It did not 
take them long to concoct a hollow pretext. They 

*The Destroyer of the Second Republic^ p. 2g. 



New Life in Mexico. 281 

well knew that Mexico's treasury had been depleted 
by a succession of revolutions. Certain European 
citizens had loaned money to Mexico, and if they 
could get their respective governments to push the 
claims of the citizens they might in this, Mexico's 
weakest hour, possibly find a casus belli. 

The plan worked well. The tripartite treaty was 
signed in London, October 31, 1861. The agents 
proceeded to Mexico, escorted by European gun- 
boats, and had their interview with the secretary 
of state. It was ascertained that England's claim 
was $69,311,657, Spain's claim $9,461,986, while all 
.the French claims, including the famous Jecker 
bonds, were $2,859,917. So the nation making the 
greatest ado was the one with the smallest claim. 
But when agents from England and Spain saw 
the situation, especially the Jesuitical workings of 
Napoleon's agent, and received Mexico's honest 
promise to pay, they washed their hands of the 
whole business and left Monsignor Saligny, the 
French Agent, alone to push his small claim — a 
ridiculous bagatelle for two nations to quarrel over. 

Spain and England sent a handful of men as an 
escort of honor to their respective agents, but Napo- 
leon, putting to shame the chivalry of France, sent 
seven thousand men to take care of their agent. 
But he had a secret object in view. Then the com- 



282 Sketches of Mexico. 

mission found the climate of Vera Cruz too hot and 
unhealthy, and united in a petition to President 
Juarez to be allowed to move themselves and their 
men to Orizaba, eighty-two miles from the coast 
and about four thousand feet above sea level. This 
was granted with the solemn promise to retire their 
troops on the conclusion of their work. When the 
British and Spanish envoys withdrew they begged 
the Frenchman to do the same. But he was acting 
under secret instructions. The emperor, Louis 
Napoleon, had now gained what he wanted, the 
power to act alone, on his own terms, in forcing his 
demands, at the bayonet's point, on an enemy 
whose generosity he had violated, while he de- 
manded full payment of fictitious claims, and then 
drove him from the seat of authority to which the 
nation had elected him, in order to place upon it a 
stranger whom he had already selected for that pur- 
pose. 

Mr. Juarez, taken by surprise, through the treach- 
ery of Napoleon's agent, whom he had treated in a 
friendly way, was forced to retire with his govern- 
ment to San Luis Potosi, later on to Chihuahua, 
and finally to El Paso, from which place, in case of 
necessity, he knew he could easily step over on 
American soil and seek protection for his life. 

Before leaving Mexico, however. Congress con- 



New Life in Mexico. 283 

ferred upon their trusted president ** facultadcs cx- 
traordinarios," with the sole condition that on the 
return of peace he should inform the nation of the 
use he had made of such *' unlimited authority." 

In the meantime Maximilian, Archduke of Aus- 
tria, accepted the mythical crown proffered by Na- 
poleon. Notwithstanding the protests delivered by 
a special agent sent from Mr. Juarez, advising the 
archduke that the clerical party was deceiving him, 
and notwithstanding the experience of his brother 
Joseph with the pope only a few years before, he 
passed to Rome, receiving the blessing of Pius IX, 
and set sail for Mexico. The archbishop's agent, in 
Europe assured him that his path would be " strewn 
with flowers from Vera Cruz to the throne in the 
halls of Moctezuma, that all opposition would drop 
into dust within a few weeks of his arrival," and 
that " the united nation would gather around him 
with enthusiasm as their beloved sovereign." 

Subsequent events proved again to the world 
how completely Rome distorts the truth when it 
suits her plans. After all that happened it is not 
surprising that John Lothrop Motley, then Ameri- 
can ambassador in Austria, wrote to his friend 
Oliver Wendell Holmes, saying: 

'* There is no glory in the grass nor verdure in 
anything. In fact, we have nothing green here but 



284 Sketches of Mexico. 

the Archduke Maximilian, who firmly believes that 
he is going forth to Mexico to establish an Ameri- 
can empire, and that it is his divine mission to de- 
stroy the dragon of democracy and reestablish the 
true Church, the right divine, and all sorts of games. 
Poor young man ! " * 

The French troops, largely augmented, now rolled 
back the republican forces, the constitutional presi- 
dent had to retire, and Maximilian was installed by 
foreign bayonets. With the help of the archbishop, 
Labastida, the enthronement of Maximilian and 
Carlotta in the cathedral of the city of Mexico as 
emperor and empress was an eloquent display of 
pomp. The young emperor prepared to set up 
a gorgeous court on American soil. His estimate 
of annual expenses, including a modest salary of one 
and a half million for himself, five million for the 
clergy, and eight million for civil list and secret 
service, ran up to $36,681,000! With this financial 
scheme and the blessing of the pope he was to un- 
dertake the task of building up " a model Romish 
State on this continent " which was to be the enter- 
ing wedge for general work of the same sort 
throughout the entire continent. In the light of 
these facts it is impossible to deny that Louis Na- 
poleon and Pius IX contemplated a final subjuga- 

* Corresponde7ice of y. L. Motley, vol. ii, p. 138. 



New Life in Mexico. 285 

tion of this entire American hemisphere, north and 
south, to the papal see. This secret comes clearly 
out in a publication from the pen of Abbe Dome- 
nech, Maximilian's official press director, who in his 
book, Mexico As It Is, declares that the Monroe 
doctrine must be overthrown and the Latin race 
given a career on this continent. Then he adds, 
" If monarchy should be successfully introduced 
into Spanish republics in ten years the United 
States would themselves declare a dictatorship, 
which is a kind of republican monarchy adopted by 
degenerate or too revolutionary republics." * 

We beg to refer you again to Mexico in Transition 
for perhaps the most full and correct account of the 
so-called French intervention found in the English 
language. Especially complete is it as to its rela- 
tion to the pope on one hand, and to the possibili- 
ties of establishing evangelical missions in Mexico 
on the other. But we hasten with our story. 

The Confederacy, under Jefferson Davis, sought 
recognition from Maximilian, and in order to obtain 
it his forces along the Texas border acted as allies 
to the emperor by intercepting bearers of dispatches 
between President Juarez and his minister at Wash- 
ington. When at last Lee surrendered and the 
Confederacy collapsed intercourse was opened and 
* Quoted from Mexico in Transition^ p. 173. 



286 Sketches of Mexico. 

made secure between Washington and the Mexican 
frontier. One of the first things done by our noble 
Lincohi was to send a letter full of sympathy and 
inspiration to Benito Juarez, who was viewing his 
land in the hand of invaders, the institutions so 
dearly loved " trampled under the feet of men," 
while he anxiously awaited a turn of events in the 
little town of El Paso del Norte. In this note 
Lincoln in substance said, *' Be of good cheer, dear 
friend, Mexico will rise again." 

On December i6, 1865, Mr. Seward sent through 
our ambassador at Paris a rather brief but effective 
note to the French court. In polite but pointed 
language Mr. Seward makes two statements, and 
then concludes : " Having thus frankly stated our 
position, I leave the question for the consideration 
of France, sincerely hoping that that great nation 
may find it compatible with its best interests and 
high honor to withdraw from its aggressive attitude 
in Mexico within some convenient and reasonable 
time, and thus leave the people of that country to 
the free enjoyment of the system of republican 
government they have established for themselves, 
and of their adhesion to which they have given 
what seems to the United States to be decisive and 
conclusive as well as touching proof"* 

''^Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, 1S65, p. 451. 



New Life in Mexico. 287 

No more effective " shot " was ever fired from 
Washington than that note. The Monroe doctrine 
was not a dead letter. Napoleon realized it, and his 
troops were withdrawn. The Empress Carlotta flew 
to Europe. Disappointed and enraged to the verge 
of madness by her cool reception from Napoleon, 
she hastened to Rome in the vain hope that the 
pope could supply men and means to sustain her 
husband and the empire in Mexico. What hap- 
pened during that mysterious interview '' of one 
hour and eighteen minutes " perhaps the world may 
never knov/, but poor Carlotta left the Vatican a 
raving maniac, and, though somewhat calmer, she 
has never yet regained her reason. Nor does she 
know to this da}' the sad fate of Maximilian, as she 
rambles in her lonely garden at the Castle of Mir- 
amar. 

When at last Maximilian realized the loss of the 
French troops, and that Napoleon and Pius IX 
feared to furnish further aid, he reached the con- 
clusion that the empire was a failure. He desired 
himself then to leave the country. 

He quietly moved to Orizaba, under pretext of a 
change of climate, but with the purpose of improv- 
ing the first opportunity of returning to Europe. 
The question of abdication, insisted upon by 
Marshal Bazaine, delayed him long enough to 



288 Sketches of Mexico. 

allow the Clericals to arrange another desperate 
blow at republican institutions. Two well-known 
generals, Marquez and Miramon, champions of the 
Church party, were to raise a native army (against 
which the United States could not protest) to prop 
up the empire. In a mysterious way money be- 
came suddenly plentiful. The Church furnished it. 
Maximilian returned to the city of Mexico rather 
against his will, now only a passive tool and little 
better than a prisoner in the hands of the Clerical 
party. ^ 

The United States government had firmly in- 
sisted that no French troops should remain beyond 
March ii, 1867, and General Sheridan had reached 
the Rio Grande with American troops to aid Mr. 
Juarez in case of necessity. Maximilian realized his 
great mistake in returning. The funds were soon 
exhausted ; the native army ready to support the 
empire was not forthcoming, so the emperor, the 
archbishop, and the traitor generals found them- 
selves with but two cities in their hands, Mexico and 
Queretaro. From the first Maximilian was soon 
driven and took refuge in the second, possibly with 
the hope of ultimately reaching American soil, where 
his life, at least, might be spared. 

Queretaro was soon captured by General Esco- 
bedo, and Maximilian, the tool of Napoleon, the 



New Life in Mexico. 289 

puppet of Pius IX, was a prisoner. He was fairly 
tried and condemned to be shot. Some have thought 
the penalty extreme, but it must be remembered 
that he was a foreign invader and the usurper of 
the rights of a sovereign people ; that by force of arms 
he had disposed of the rights and lives of thou- 
sands of Mexicans; that he had, by decree (Octo- 
ber 3, 1865), falsely declared the republican army 
a band of robbers whose president and government 
had abandoned the national territory, and that he 
continued " to employ means of violence, death, 
and destruction until he fell." 

Besides all this there was no heir, and here was 
the empire in a nutshell. ''Allow him to go now," 
Mr. Juarez said, '' and there was no knowing 
what the pope and some European power might 
contrive in future. No ; the lesson has been a dear 
one for us, and we must now teach a corresponding 
one to Pius IX, Napoleon, and all the world." 

Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, secretary of state 
under Juarez, closed his reply to the lawyers of 
Maximilian, when the appeal for pardon was reiter- 
ated, in the following words : 

" The existence of Mexico as an independent 
nation must not be left to the will of the govern- 
ments of Europe. Our reforms, our progress, our 
liberty must not stop at the wish of any foreign 



290 Sketches of Mexico. 

sovereign who might take a notion to impose an 
emperor upon us who would attempt again to reg- 
ulate the amount of liberty or servitude he thought 
best to bestow upon us. The life of Maximilian 
might be the excuse for an attempt at a viceroyalty. 
The return of Maximilian to Europe might be a 
weapon for the calumniators and enemies of Mexico 
to bring about a restoration and the overthrow of 
the institutions of the country. For nearly fifty 
years Mexico has pursued a policy of pardon and 
leniency, and the fruits of that policy have been 
anarchy among ourselves and loss of prestige 
abroad. Now, or never, may the republic con- 
solidate itself." 

Every appeal to spare his life, including that of 
the Emperor of Austria, that of the Queen of Eng- 
land, and the impassionate and repeated pleas by 
the Princess Salm-Salm, as well as the carefully 
drawn request of our Mr. Seward, were all in vain. 
Every attempt to bribe the officers, one of them 
accompanied by no less a price than §200,000, 
failed. An aggrieved and wronged nation, weeping 
by thousands for those who had suffered and died 
through him, demanded justice. So after a fair 
trial, in which the best judicial talent in the country, 
and of his own selection, vainly defended him, the 
Archduke Maximilian, of Austria, was executed on 



New Life in Mexico. 291 

the little " Hill of the Bells " just outside the city 
ofQueretaro. 

When Mr. Juarez, the legal President of Mexico 
and leader of the Liberal party, returned from his 
exile and was again in possession of the office to 
which he had been elevated by his people, he 
turned his attention to the party which brought so 
much sorrow and destruction to the nation. The 
great Church property had already been national- 
ized. Its value was estimated, as already stated, 
at from $200,000,000 to $300,000,000. From this 
and other sources the Church had derived an annual 
income of $20,000,000. The Liberals took the ground 
that this immense property had been unjustly 
wrung out of the hands of the people, and there- 
fore should be returned to its lawful owners. As 
many churches were designated for public worship 
as were needed for that purpose. But these were 
only leased to the Church party for a term of ninety- 
nine years. The title is still vested in the govern- 
ment, and on more than one occasion it has been 
necessary to remind the clergy who is the owner of 
these properties. The occasion of this kind causing 
most astonishment occurred when Sefior Jose Baz, 
governor of the Federal District, learning that the 
bishop was preaching against the Liberals and the 
reform laws, rode on horseback at the head of a 



292 Sketches of Mexico. 

body of men into the Cathedral, arrested the bishop, 
turned the people into the street, locked the door, 
and carried the key to his own office. This episode 
brought about a clear understanding between the 
interested parties before the key was given up. 
Henceforth treason must not be preached in Mexi- 
can churches. 

Much of the property — convents, monasteries, 
houses of religious orders, and the Inquisition — was 
sold to help the national treasury. Many edifices 
were given to army officers in payment of long 
years of service. It can be easily imagined that 
this policy created a large army of opponents to 
the Church as a political institution. 

The Liberal party was given hearty cooperation 
from the masses of the -people, and rightly so. 
The lessons of the Inquisition, the demands upon 
their hard-earned and limited living through the 
confessional and the seven so-called sacraments, had 
laid burdens upon them " grievous to be borne." 
True, the Inquisition was broken up, but the re- 
mains of it were seen in places of religious retreat, 
while many of the milder instruments of torture 
were used not only in these retreats, but imposed 
upon the people in the churches and in their own 
homes. 

Madame Calderon de la Barca, wife of the first 



New Life in Mexico. 293 

Spanish ambassador to Mexico — Spain having con- 
sented to recognize the independence of her lost 
province — during her stay in the country wrote a 
series of letters which were afterward edited and 
published by Prescott, the historian. She was a 
Roman Catholic, and describes the use of these 
instruments as she saw it in the Church of Santo 
Domingo. She says : 

'' The scene was curious. About one hundred 
and fifty men, enveloped in cloaks and scrapes, 
their faces entirely concealed, were assembled in 
the body of the church. A monk had just mounted 
the pulpit, and the church was dimly lighted, except 
where he stood in bold relief, with his gray robes 
and cowl thrown back, giving a full view of his high, 
bald forehead and expressive face. His discourse 
was a rude but very forcible and eloquent descrip- 
tion of tlie torments prepared in hell for impeni- 
tent sinners. The effect of the whole was very sol- 
emn. It appeared like the preparation for the execu- 
tion of a multitude of condemned criminals. When 
the discourse was finished they all joined in prayer 
with much fervor and enthusiasm, beating their 
breasts and falling upon their faces. Then the 
monk stood up and in a very distinct voice read 
several passages of Scripture descriptive of the suf- 
ferings of Christ. The organ then struck up the 
20 



294 Sketches of Mexico. 

' Miserere,' and all of a sudden the church was 
plunged in profound darkness — all but a sculptured 
representation of the crucifixion, which seemed to 
hang in the air illun?Jnated. I felt rather fright- 
ened, and would have been very glad to leave the 
church, but it would have been impossible in the 
darkness. Suddenly a terrible voice in the dark 
cried, ' My brothers, when Christ was fastened to 
the pillar by the Jews he was scourged.' At these 
words the bright figure disappeared and the dark- 
ness became total. Suddenly we heard the sound 
of hundreds of scourges descending upon the bare 
flesh. I cannot conceive anything more horrible. 
Before ten minutes had passed the sound became 
splashing, from the blood that was flowing. We 
could not leave the church, but it was perfectly 
sickening ; and had I not been able to take hold of 
the senora's hand and feel something human be- 
side me I could have fancied myself transported 
into a congregation of evil spirits. Now and then, 
but very seldom, a suppressed groan was heard, and 
occasionally the voice of the monk encouraging 
them by ejaculations or by short passages from 
Scripture. Sometimes the organ struck up, and 
the poor wretches, in a faint voice, tried to join in 
the ' Miserere.' The sound of the scourging is in- 
describable. At the end of half an hour a little 



New Life in Mexico. 295 

bell was rung, and the voice of the monk was heard 
calling upon them to desist ; but such was their en- 
thusiasm that the horrible lashing continued louder 
and fiercer than ever. In vain he entreated them 
not to kill themselves, and assured them that Heaven 
would be satisfied, and that human nature could 
not endure beyond a certain point. No answer, 
but tlie loud sound of the scourges, which are many 
of them of iron, with sharp points that enter the 
flesh. At length, as if they were perfectly ex- 
hausted, the sound grew fainter, and little by little 
ceased altogether. We then got up, and, with great 
difficulty, groped our way in the pitch darkness till 
we reached the door. They say that the church 
floor was frequently covered with blood after one 
of these penances, and that a man died the other 
day inconsequence of his wounds." 

These disctplinas, silicias, circlets, or crowns, and 
waistbands are in a quiet way still imposed upon 
the blind dupes of the priests.* The administra- 
tion of the seven sacraments was a source 
of great revenue to the Church, and a means by 
which thousands were kept in poverty. None of 
these, unless it was in the case of ^' holy orders " 

* Specimens of these different articles of self-punishment were ex- 
hibited by the lecturer, who had obtained some of them from con- 
verts who aforetime used them. 



296 Sketches of Mexico. 

(and of these we are in doubt), were ever adminis- 
tered without the payment of an extravagant fee to 
the priest. The poorest of the poor Avere obliged 
to pay for baptism, confirmation, the eucharist, 
penance, matrimony, or extreme unction a sum 
equivalent to from ten to fifteen dollars of our 
money. The multitudes of peons working on the 
great estates were the principal sufferers from this 
oppressive simony. These estates were visited peri- 
odically by the priests, and the sacraments were ad- 
ministered by wholesale. At the end of his day's 
work the priest would present his bill to the admin- 
istrator and receive his pay in bulk. The adminis- 
trator, in turn, charged up to the individual laborer 
his part or parts — for the same family may have 
asked for two or three sacraments. Now, this poor 
man probably earned a sum equivalent to thirty 
cents of our money, and, counting out the Sabbath 
and other feast days, of which there were many, 
worked about two hundred days or less in the year. 
At best this would give him sixty dollars per year. 
From this he must clothe and feed his family, buy- 
ing his provisions at a store owned by his employer 
(where prices were certainly not lower than else- 
where), meet a small tax, perhaps, for doctor and 
medicines, and pay besides the exorbitant exactions 
of the mercenary priesthood. The exception was to 



New Life in Mexico. 297 

find a man out of debt, and consequently out of 
slavery, for there existed a law prohibiting the la- 
borer to leave his employer while indebted to him ; 
so unless a new master came forward he was likely 
to be in debt until freed by death itself. Thus it 
often happened that grim death, with all his terrors 
for the superstitious mind, was a better friend to 
man than was his fellow. 

Among the higher class of people the confessional 
and ^' last sacrament ** were the chief sources of 
bonanza. Sins might be atoned for and the poor 
sinner's peace made with the Church by the pay- 
ment of silver and gold. And when the " faithful," 
taught from infancy that without extreme unction 
he could not possibly enter heaven, came down to 
death's door the father confessor was at his side. 
In one hand the ''sacrament" was held and often 
with the other this so-called man of God would 
shake over the trembling soul the pains of purga- 
tory and the terrors of hell till a good portion of his 
worldly goods was made over to the Church — cus- 
todian of heaven's key! These expressions are 
fully justified by the testimony of a Roman Catho- 
lic author, Abbe Domenech, the chief chaplain of 
the French army, who, in his Mexico As It Is, de- 
clares concerning the priests, that *' they make mer- 
chandise of the sacrament, and make money by 



298 Sketches of Mexico. 

every religious ceremony." Then he adds: "One 
of the greatest evils in Mexico is the exorbitant fee 
for the marriage ceremony. The priests compel the 
poor to live without marriage by demanding for the 
nuptial benediction more than a Mexican mechanic, 
with his slender wages, can accumulate in fifty years 
of strictest economy. This is no exaggeration." 

Thus writes a faithful son of the Church. But 
the Liberal party, under Comonfort and Juarez, 
sought to remedy these excesses and set their peo- 
ple free as far as within their power. Hence, on 
being reinstated in the national capital, the laws of 
reform (already quoted in substance) were enlarged 
and reenacted in order to carry out the provisions 
and purposes of the Constitution. Under the pro- 
tection of both Protestant missionaries were enabled 
to enter Mexico. Mr. Juarez, on more than one 
occasion, manifested, publicly and privately, his 
obligations to God and the desire that the repre- 
sentatives of a pure form of Christianity should 
obtain among the millions of his priest-ridden coun- 
trymen. At the close of the French intervention 
he issued the following proclamation : 

*' Let the Mexican people fall on their knees be- 
fore God, who has deigned to crown our arms with 
victory. He has smitten the foreigner who has op- 
pressed us sorely. He has established these, his 



New Life in Mexico. 299 

people, in their rightful place. For he who hath 
his habitation in the heavens is the visitor and pro- 
tector of our country, who strikes down those Who 
came to do us ill. The excellent, the only just, al- 
mighty, and eternal One is he who hath dispersed 
the nations which, like vultures, had fallen on 
Mexico." 

One of our native preachers, an ex-priest, enjoyed 
the personal friendship of Mr. Juarez up to the time 
of his death, and to him the lamented president 
once said : " Upon the development of Protestant- 
ism largely depends the future of our country." 

No wonder we find the authorities, including the 
president arid the State governors, as a rule, ready 
to give due protection to the lives and properties 
of the missionaries. The first missionary to enter 
the field was a brave Christian woman. In the 
early fifties Miss Melinda Rankin went to reside in 
Brownsville, Texas. While studying the Spanish 
language she employed some Mexicans to act as 
colporteurs among their country people. Later 
she moved as far south as Monterey, where she es- 
tablished a day and boarding school. In this she 
seems to have had a biblicak department' (the first 
theological seminary under evangelical auspices in 
the republic of Mexico), for the youth were taught 
not only the rudiments of a common education, but 



300 Sketches of Mexico. 

received daily instruction in the truths of the Gos- 
pel. After a while some of the older boys were 
sent every Sabbath into the towns and villages 
about Monterey to read and explain the chapter of 
God's word which they had been studying during 
the week. In time it was found that fourteen little 
congregations had grown up through her instru- 
mentality, and our theological professoress had thus 
providentially come to be the pastor and bishop of 
hundreds of souls, while her infant flock looked up 
to her with just as much regard and reverence, per- 
haps, as if some bishop or council had laid ''holy 
hands " on her head. When her health failed her 
work was handed over to the Presbyterians. Later 
some of the workers came as far south as Villa de 
Cos, in the State of Zacatecas, where they were 
greatly encouraged by Dr. Prevost, a Christian phy- 
sician living in the capital of that State. He was 
an American, and in his long residence in Mexico 
he has been a most valued adviser and helper in 
the Presbyterian Mission. 

Several of the evangelical Churches in the United 
States decided to enter the field toward the close 
of 1872. They did so in about the following order: 
the Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, Congrega- 
tional, Baptist (Southern Convention), Southern 
Methodist, Southern Presbyterian, Reformed As- 



New Life in Mexico. 



301 



sociate Presbyterian, Baptist (Northern Conven- 
tion), the Friends, and the Cumberland Presby- 
terian. Besides these there were several independ- 
ent missions, such as the Church of Jesus, part of 
which, about ten years ago, was formally taken up 
by the Episcopalians ; an English mission originated 
by the late James Pascoe, but since his death dis- 
membered ; and finally the work of a Mr. Harris, 
in Orizaba. Of these smaller independent missions 
it has been impossible to secure reliable statistics ; 
but after months of persistent correspondence we 
are able to present the following surprising results 
in our sister republic of a little over twenty years : 

TWENTY YEARS OF SYSTEMATIC EVANGELICAL WORK.* 



/. The Field. 
Number of centers of operation. 
Number of congregations 



//. The Workers, 

Number of ordained foreign missionaries. . . . 

Number of assistant foreign missionaries 
(that is, unordained men, and wives of 
ordained and assistant missionaries). . 

Number of foreign lady teachers 

Whole number of foreign workers 

Number of native preachers, ordained. . . . 

Number of native preachers, unordained . . 

Number of native teachers 

Number of other native helpers 

Total number of native workers 

Grand total of foreign and native workers. 



Total of all 
Missions. 



87 
609 



59 



Methodist 
Episcopal 
Missions. 



30 
133 



10 



59 


10 


67 


8 


185 


28 


III 


15 


164 


33 


177 


38 


94 


56 


546 


142 


731 


160 



♦During these years the British and American Bible societies have distributed 
416,819 volumes of sacred writ in Mexico. 



302 



Sketches of Mexico. 



///. The Churches. 

Number of churches organized 

Number of communicants 

Number of probable adherents 

IV. The Schools, 
Number of training and theological schools . 

Number of students in same 

Number of boarding schools or orphanages. 

Number of pupils in same 

Number of common schools 

Number of pupils in same 

Total number under instruction 

Number of Sunday schools 

Number of Sunday school teachers and offi- 
cers 

Number of Sunday school scholars 

Total membership of Sunday schools 

V. Publishing Interests. 

Number of publishing houses . . . 

Number of papers issued 

Pages of all kinds of religious literature is- 
sued since the establishment of your 
press 

VI. Properties. 

Number of church buildings 

Approximate value of same (including furni- 
ture) 

Number of parsonages 

Approximate value of same (including society 
furniture) 

Number of educational buildings 

Approximate value of same (inckiding furni- 
ture and utensils) 

Value of publishing outfit 

Total value of all missionary property. . . . . 

VII. Historic and Personal. 
How many martyrs, if any, has your missioni 

had? I 

Place and date of sucli martyrdom ? I 



Total of all 

Missions. 



441 

16,034 
49.512 



9 

86 

33 

625 

116 

6,709 

7,336 

347 

694 

9,813 

10,507 



10 
13 



159,948,246 40,048,246 



Methodist 
Episcopal 
Missions. 



133 
3,085 
8,214 



r 

7 

3 

56 

48 

3,190 

3,253 

59 

157 
1,797 
1,944 



118 



635,550 



217,900 
31 

283.885 

40,150 

1,101,485 



58 



28 

104,700 

iS 

128,200 

8 

117,200 

12,850 

362,950 



New Life in Mexico. 303 

These 609 congregations, 16,000 communicants, 
and nearly 50,000 adherents, with 6,709 children in 
our day schools and 9,813 in our Sunday schools, are 
the work of only about twenty years. And all this 
has been accomplished in a land where a few years 
ago there was no open Bible, no Protestant school, 
and no evangelical Church. " This is the Lord's 
doings, and it is marvelous in our eyes." 

In the early forties Madame Calderon de la Barca, 
a devout Roman Catholic as already said, writing 
of the disturbed and unsatisfactory condition of the 
country and the people, and writing, too, when there 
was not a declared Protestant in all the land, said, 
*^Let them (the clergy) beware lest half a century 
later they be awakened from their delusion and 
find the Cathedral turned into a meeting house and 
all painted white, the railing melted down, the 
Virgin's jewels sold to the highest bidder, the floor 
washed (which would do it no harm), and around the 
whole a new wooden paling, freshly done in green, 
and all this performed by some of the artists from 
the wide-awake republic further north." If the 
madame could rise from her grave and return to 
Mexico she would be surprised to know what a real 
prophetess she was. The " railing " of solid silver 
was melted during the War of Independence, the 
government recently put a substantial paling, the 



304 Sketches of Mexico. 

floor has been washed often, the unaccompanied 
mass of other days is now often followed by a 
sermon, sometimes even a gospel sermon ; for 
Rome is always forced to preach when Protestant- 
ism is planted in her midst. And besides all this 
evangelical Churches are multiplying more and more 
in every State of the republic, and the Gospel now 
having '' free course " in this land of Moctezuma, 
its influence will soon spread into the central and 
the northern part of South America till we meet our 
brother missionaries of those regions, and all Spanish 
America will be lifted up into the life and liberty of 
the children of God. 

Our own branch of the Christian Church was one 
of the first to enter the field, and it seems to have 
been providentially guided in the selection of im- 
portant centers and the building up of suitable 
headquarters. Our experience in the city of Mexico 
will suffice as an illustration of this fact. Here, as 
our first superintendent graphically tells us in his 
recent work on Mexico, we own a portion of the 
Convent of San Francisco, and it stands on the very 
spot where Moctezuma's pleasure palace stood four 
hundred years ago. After the nationalization of all 
the country's great Church property this part of the 
immense convent, covering what is equivalent to 
four city blocks, became a circus, then a theater, 



New Life in Mexico. 305 

later it served as the national Congress hall, and 
then again as a theater. This theater company 
failed just as our first superintendent reached the city 
of Mexico in February, 1873. In a strange and 
certainly providential way, as described in the tenth 
chapter of his book, this property, with its recent 
improvements, became one of the most complete 
Protestant headquarters in the republic. It is cen- 
trally located, contains church, chapel, boys' school- 
rooms, press, bookstore, editorial and agent's rooms, 
and three parsonages. All these in place of pagan 
palace and Romish convent. Mexico has had many 
transitions during the past twenty-five years, but 
none more wonderful than that which we witness 
here. 

And this is especially so when, in the very corri- 
dors which formerly served for the solemn proces- 
sions and awful deeds of Spanish friars, you can now 
find several times a week a devout and happy 
Methodist congregation under their own roof, with 
" none to molest," as they worship God just as you 
do here in this highly favored land. No wonder 
that Bishop FitzGerald, sitting in the chapel pulpit 
and looking out on the ardent worshipers with per- 
haps some of their same thoughts running through 
his mind, was carried on the wings of song more 
than once into a shouting mood. 



5o6 Sketches of Mexico. 

Now let us examine the following contrast : 
Thirty years ago Pope Pius IX and the Jesuits, 
Napoleon and Eugenie, Maximilian and Carlotta, 
were banded together for the estabhshment of a 
European monarchy in Mexico, which meant the 
complete extermination of the Liberal party, the 
reenthronement of the Clericals, and the unlimited 
sorrow and destruction of the people and the na- 
tion. 

On the collapse of the empire in Mexico, Europe 
was still in commotion. The troops of Louis Na- 
poleon were in Rome, but were soon after with- 
drawn under a secretly arranged treaty between 
Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel. On the iSthof 
July, 1870, the pope's claim to infallibility was de- 
creed. The very next day, as Mr. Gladstone says, 
*' Napoleon III, the political ally and supporter of 
Pius IX, unchained the furies of war, which in a few 
weeks swept away the empire of France, and with 
it the temporal power of the infallible pope, while 
the five hundred and thirty-three purblind Catholic 
bishops who had voted for infallibility made a 
hasty and ignominious retreat from Rome. 

On the 1st of September following France was 
completely crushed at Sedan by her ancient Ger- 
manic foe. On the 31st of the same month Victor 
Emmanuel, who had recently been excommunicated 



New Life in Mexico. 307 

by the pope, entered Rome at the head of the Liberal 
army, and in a few days was almost unanimously 
chosen as the ruler of a free and united people. 
Every ruler in Europe turned a deaf ear to the im- 
passionate appeals of the pope for reinstatement in 
power. He was now only a poor prisoner, his capi- 
tal taken from him, and his outrageous assumptions 
had fallen to the dust, and to-day a dozen Protes- 
tant churches are found within the walls of that cap- 
ital, one of which was located, by Dean Vernon, 
conveniently near the Vatican. 

Napoleon III had long sought a quarrel with 
Germany, and at last it came. On the 1st of 
September, 1870, this " eldest son of the Church," 
after seeing his forces completely vanquished, was 
taken prisoner at Sedan by a Protestant king and car- 
ried in exile to the Castle of Wilhelmshohe, " never 
to wear a crown again." Paris was soon captured, 
Alsace and Lorraine ceded to Germany, and the 
Rhine made the permanent boundary between the 
two countries. All this news was sent to Wilhelms- 
hohe for the comfort of the proud spirit who hoped, 
like his uncle, to be the dictator of Europe, and 
who only eight years before had pompously declared 
that he would open a career for the " Latin race, and 
all that it implies, on the soil of the New World," 
which was to be " the most glorious enterprise of 



3o8 Sketches of Mexico. 

the nineteenth century." " The power behind the 
throne " was the Empress Eugenie, *' a frivolous 
Spanish bigot," an eager partisan of the pope. 
She it was who received every year, on Palm Sun- 
day, from the holy father, '' a palm branch, blessed 
by him, which was hung at the head of her bed as 
a protection from evil during the year." She was 
a ready tool in the hands of the Jesuits, and had 
influenced Napoleon in his inimical relation to 
Italy and Mexico. She believed her husband was 
the providential instrument to crush Protestant Ger- 
many and aid the pope in all his plans, and exult- 
antly exclaimed as Napoleon started for Sedan, 
" This is my war." 

But in a few days she was glad to accept the 
aid of a foreigner in her secret escape from Paris, 
and to be allowed to make her home in England. 
She was enraged over the thought of free Italians in 
Rome, humiliated as the Prussians entered Paris, 
and depressed beyond measure as she saw herself 
perfectly helpless to prevent, a short time later, the 
establishment of Protestant missions in the very 
capital where, in such royal magnificence, she had 
spent the proudest days of her romantic life. When 
Napoleon died, in 1873, she clung to her only son, 
" the Prince Imperial," concerning whom she had 
great hopes for the future. But soon we see 



New Life in Mexico. 309 

Eugenie alone in Africa, with her dead son, *' dis- 
crowned, widowed, and childless, a sad but striking 
memorial of the penalty dealt out to the oppressors 
of Mexico." 

Maximilian's sad fate has already been explained. 
Carlotta still lives in Miramar, hopelessly insane. 
And the Jesuits, behind the united efforts of Napo- 
leon and the pope, have been driven from nearly 
every land in Christendom, and even from some 
heathen lands. The United States of America 
some day may have to follow the example of 
these in defense of her blood-bought legacies of 
freedom. 

Now look, for a moment, at the country these 
had all united to crush. Shortly after the fall of 
Maximilian, Mexico became a united, happy, and 
prosperous nation. For seventeen years she has 
enjoyed uninterrupted peace, and most of the time 
under the presidency of a man who would readily 
make a leader among the statesmen of any nation 
of earth — General Porfirio Diaz — friend of every 
modern idea that will lift up his country, and 
repeatedly pledged, by his own spontaneous voli- 
tion, to extend to all Protestant workers the full 
protection of the law. When the so-called empire 
fell less than one hundred miles of railroad existed 
in the country, while now we have six thousand 
21 



3IO Sketches of Mexico. 

eight hundred and seventy-seven miles. At that 
time only the chief towns (not including all the 
State capitals) were connected by telegraph wire, 
while now there are twenty-five thousand four hun- 
dred and seventy-six miles of such wire, putting 
every town of any importance in direct communica- 
tion with the national capital, and consequently 
with the outside world. 

Then there was but one bank, and that not a 
bank of issue, whereas now we have a dozen, whose 
capital and business will compare favorably with 
those of our own country. Interest on the foreign 
debt is being promptly met, and Mexico's credit 
abroad is most excellent, as was recently proven 
by the eagerness with which her loan of ;^3, 000,000 
was taken up in Berlin. 

The scheme for draining the valley, so long de- 
layed, is now being pushed to conclusion, at a total 
cost of $15,000,000 (silver), and will make the city 
of Mexico one of the healthiest on the continent. 
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, Mexico 
produced $48,500,000 worth of silver, or double the 
annual output of fifteen years ago. Mining costs 
only a fraction of what it costs in the United States. 
The gold output last year was $1,400,000. Iron is 
plentiful. Coal, copper, lead, and nearly all the 
precious and baser metals are found. Factories are 



New Life in Mexico. 311 

going up in many places — plants at Monterey and 
San Luis Potosi costing nearly a million dollars 
each (silver), at San Rafael a full million, while the 
new cotton and print works at Orizaba are worth 
three and a half millions. 

The worthy president is especially interested in 
educational matters, as witness the University and 
Normal School of Mexico city, as well as the new 
and well-equipped normal schools, open to both 
sexes, in Jalapa, Oaxaca, Durango, Guadalajara, and 
other places. 

Foreign capital is flowing freely into the country 
to buy some of their excellent tropical lands, for 
the purpose of raising coffee, vanilla, sugar, and 
fruits. Five millions (gold) went last year into one 
district alone for the purchase of coffee. No won- 
der that exports have doubled in the past fifteen 
years. 

Able men have represented Mexico in the recent 
International Medical Congress at Washington, 
Chicago, and Rome, while at the great Silver Con- 
gress of Europe every utterance of her delegates 
commanded closest attention. The Columbian Ex- 
position awarded one thousand one hundred and 
seventy-seven prizes to Mexican exhibits. We 
might continue on this line, but surely this is 
enough to make clear our point. 



312 Sketches of Mexico. 

About a year after Columbus came to these 
shores Pope Alexander VI assumed to divide the 
.western world between the Spanish and the Portu- 
guese. Soon after Isabel, '* the poetic and Catholic 
queen," made her last will and testament. In this 
interesting instrument we find the following para- 
graph : " When we were granted by the most holy 
apostolic see the islands and continents of the 
great ocean, discovered and to be discovered, our 
principal intention was, as we prayed from Pope 
Alexander VI, of blessed memory, who made us the 
grant, to endeavor to induce and bring the peoples 
thereof by conversion to the holy Catholic faith, 
and to send to said islands and continents prelates 
and ecclesiastics, clergymen and gifted persons fear- 
ing God, to instruct the residents thereof in the 
Catholic faith, showing them and instructing them 
in good doctrine and customs, and pay such atten- 
tion thereto as is explained more at length in the 
letters of grant. Very affectionately I pray the 
king, my lord, and beg of the princess, my daughter, 
and her husband, the prince, that they may so do 
and ordain, and that this may be their principal 
aim ; that they may place especial attention there- 
in, and that they do not permit nor allow the 
neighboring Indians and inhabitants of the islands 
and continents, conquered and to be conqueried, to 



New Life in Mexico. 313 

receive injury in their persons, but that they be 
justly and well treated; and should they have re- 
ceived any hurt or injury, that the same be repaired 
and atoned for, so that nothing may be done be- 
yond that ordained in our Apostolic Letters of 
Credence." 

To this solemn legacy the Roman Catholic Church 
has been wofully recreant, losing one of the sub- 
limest opportunities ever placed within the reach 
of any Church. In the providence of God this 
country now looks to us. In Mexico are twelve 
million souls ; beyond, in Central and South Amer- 
ica, are about fifty millions more, making, in all, 
over sixty millions. 

Not one European missionary is found working 
in their midst. Nor will such ever probably work 
south of the Rio Grande. Methodism, in common 
with all evangelical Churches of the United States, 
has the high privilege and solemn duty of helping 
to lift up and evangelize these millions ; every door 
is open, and further progress toward this glorious 
consummation depends only upon the liberality of 
our people. Bishop Newman never uttered a more 
important truth than when in New York he recently 
said, " 1 believe that God has. placed in our respon- 
sibility all this continent." 

Mexico long ago took its place in the galaxy of 



314 Sketches of Mexico. 

civilized nations. Let its State and local authorities 
cooperate heartily with the central government in 
the protection of modern industries, of educational 
advantages, and religious liberty ; let its schools 
multiply, let its free press extend everywhere, let 
evangelical church spires multiply throughout its 
beautiful vales and on its noble mountain sides, and 
then the land of Moctezuma, of Hidalgo, of Juarez, 
and of Diaz will arise in all the strength of its new 
life to recognize as its chief ruler and divine guide 
" the King of kings and Lord of lords." 



INDEX. 



Abbott, Gorliam D., 31. 

Acosta, Jose de, 24. 

Almonte, 272, 279. 

Amaquemacan, 144, 146. 

* 'Anonymous Conqueror, The, " 23. 

"Atlantic," etymology of word, 60. 

Atlantis, 56. 

Audience, 235. 

Augustine I, 259. 

Authorities, list of, 23-31. 

Aztecs, their route to Mexico, 156- 

161. 
Aztlan, 151. 

Bancroft, Hubert H., 30. 
Boturini, Lorenzo Benaduci, 26. 
Bravo, episode of, 254, 255. 
Brinton, criticised, 18. 
" Burning the ships," 224. 
Calderon, Madame, 31, 292, 293, 

303. 
Calendar, Mexican, 133, 134. 
Calendar stone, 77. 
California, sale of, 266. 
Carlota, 287, 

Carthaginian theory of popula- 
tion, 55. 
Cempoala, Cortez at, 215. 
Chichimecs, 126, 144-150. 
Chinese, origin of population, 71. 
Cholula, pyramid of, no, 113, 229. 
Clavigero, Francisco Javier, 27. 
Coat of arms, 159. 
Color, variety of, 39. 
Comonfort, 270, 272, 298. 
Constitution of 1814, 253. 
Constitution of 1857, 270, 271. 
Cortez, biographical sketch, 201- 

205 ; arrival in Mexico, 206 ; 

receives embassy, 210-215 ; 

overthrow's idols, 215-220 ; 

conspiracy against, 221-224 ; 



burns his ships, 224, 225 , at 
Tlaxcala, 226-228 ; victor, 230. 

Cozumel, Cortez at, 218. 

Creation, Quiche account of,95,96. 

Cross, symbol of, 25, 116, 117. 

Cuautemoc, monument to, 4-7. 

Diaz, Bernal, 23. 

Diaz, Porfirio, 309-315. 

Egyptian theoiy of Mexicans, 51. 

" Fair God," 117, 119, 138-143. 

Ferdinand VII, 245, 257, 258. 

French interference, 279-291. 

Gage, Thomas, 27. 

Greek theory of population, 49. 

" Grito de Dolores," 248. 

Herrera, A. de, 24. 

Hidalgo, 246-252. 

Hindoo origin of population, 71. 

Huehue Tlapallan, 123. 

Hueman, 128-131, 140. 

Huitzilopochtli, 157, 160, 167, 
190, 229. 

Humboldt, Alexander Von, 28. 

Independence, struggle for, 246- 

259- 

Irish theory of population, 47. 

Isabella's will, 312. 

Iturbide, 258, 259. 

Ixtlilxochitl, 24. 

Japanese origin of population, 73. 
Jewish theory of population, 67. 
Juarez, 270, 272-274, 282-291, 

298, 299. 
Kingsborough, Lord, 29. 
Language, diversity of, 39. 
Las Casas, B. de, 24. 
Leif, son of Eric, 51. 
Madoc-ap-Owen, 44. 
Marina, 209. 

Maximilian, 283, 284, 290. 
Maya, 86-92, 105. 



3i6 



Index. 



Maya-Quiche, 86-88, 92. 

Mayer,Brantz, 31. 

Metals, production of precious, 

191. 
Mexican War, 266, 269, 
Mexico city founded, 160, 165 ; 

derivation of name, 167. 
Mexitli, 161, 167. 
Mining, 310. 
Miramon, 272, 288. 
Missions, 299-3^4. 
Moctezuma I, 174, 177. 
Moctezuma II, 178-1S7 ; sends 

gifts to Cortez, 210-215. 
Morelos, 253. 

Mormon account of ^lexicans, 66. 
Motolinia, 23. 
Naphtuhim, 52, 54. 
Napoleon I, 244. 
Napoleon III, 272, 279-284, 307- 

309- 

Nationalization of Church prop- 
erty, 291, 292. 

Nezahualcoyotl, 170-173. 

Norse theory of population, 50. 

Numidian theory of population, 56. 

Olmecs, 113-119. 

Ophir, location of, 75. 

Origin of Mexicans, 35-80 ; 
aulochthonic theory, 35-43 ; 
European theories, 44-51 ; 
African theories, 52 ; Asiatic 
theories, 64-80 ; diverse ori- 
gin,^ 83. 

Otomis, iig. 

Paintings, importance of, 10 ; col- 
lections of, 13. 

Palenque, 106, 114. 

Papantzin, Dona Maria, 188. 

Phoenician origin of population, 

74- 
Plan of Iguala, 258. 
Popol Vuk, 94, 95. 
Prehistoric Mexicans, 83-120. 
Prescott, William H., 29. 
Pulque, 137. 
Quetzalcoatl, 117-119, 191. 



Quetzalcohuatl, 125. 

Quiche, 92-95. 

Quinames, loP. 

Railroads, 309. 

Ramii-ez, on Mexico's debt to 
Spain, 231. 

Rankin, Miss Melinda, 299. 

Records, destruction of, 9 ; com- 
pleteness of, 10; collections 

of, 13- 

Reform laws, the, 274, 275. 

Robertson, William, 27. 

Roman theoiy of population, 50. 

Sahagun, Bernardino de, 24. 

Santa Ana, 260-262, 269. 

Scandinavian theory of popu- 
lation, 50. 

Scotch theory of population, 48. 

Scourging, 293. 

Seward's note to France, 286, 

Short, John T., 31. 

vSiguenzay Gongora, Carlos de, 25. 

Statistics, 301. 

St. Thomas in Mexico, 118, 119. 

Telegraphs. 310. 

" Ten Lost Tribes," 67. 

Tenoch, 166, 168. 

Tenochtitlan, 160. 

Teoamoxtli, 131, 132. 

Teoicpalli, 157. 

Tezcatlipoca, 140-143. 

Tezcoco, 145, i68, 169. 

Thompson, Waddy, 31. 

Tlaxcala taken, 226. 

Tlaxcalans, 153-155. 

Toltecs, 123-127. 

Torquemada, Juan de, 25. 

Totonacs, 119. 

Tula, ruins of, 19-21, lOi, 104, 
129, 130, 135, 136. 

Victor Emmanuel, 306. 

Victoria, 260. 

Votan, 89. 

Welsh theory of Mexicans, 44. 

Wilson, R. A., 32. 

Xicalancas, 113-119. 

Yucatan, Mayas of, 105. 



